Artist Bio
Artist Statement/Bio
James Tailor is a London-based artist whose work incorporates wall-based paintings and freestanding sculptural assemblages, with these differing approaches overlapping and existing autonomously within his practice. Following his BA Fine Art at London Metropolitan University (2015) and MA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (2017), Tailor was the recipient of the Helen Scott Lidgett Acme Award, entitling him to a one-year rent-free studio and £5K grant, simultaneously partaking in PEER’S Bound (2018), London. Tailor has also been a artist in residence at the Alexander McQueen Foudation, Sarabande.
James Tailor is an artist living and working in London. His practice underlines the intersections between, identity, queerness, class, sexuality, memory and materiality. He’s work focuses on wall-based paintings, freestanding sculptural assemblages, installations. Creating dynamic dialogues between surface, structure and space. His practice is driven by a deep curiosity for material exploration and a relentless engagement with his own identity.
A central focus of Tailor’s work is the deconstruction and re-presentation of paint. Over the past 11 years, he has developed labor-intensive techniques, such as crafting self-made paint skins and coagulating paint, pushing the medium beyond its traditional boundaries. These methods have become signature elements of his practice, this has more recently grown to include elements of kitsch assemblage. Through these experimental manipulations, he explores themes of transformation, resilience, and reinvention, reflecting both his personal and artistic evolution.
Assemblage, another core aspect of Tailor’s work, involves re-purposing discarded objects that have outlived their original purpose. These objects symbolise moments of tension, loss, and transition. Rather than allowing them to decay, he re-assembles them a new form, highlighting the inherent tension that initially drew him to them. The process of creating is personal— but the work invites the viewer to consider their own key moments, bringing prominence to imperfection and transforming past experiences into symbols of hope.
Tailor’s creative process, is intuitive yet deliberate. The discarded objects he selects are already charged with histories of abandonment and wear, resonating with him on a visceral level. He pairs them with draped layers of acrylic paint, creating a supple texture, pushing against a compromised frame. The tension within these materials reflect an emotional struggle—folds of paint and a fractured form that is teetering on the edge of collapse while at the same time holding a sense of hope.
A pivotal shift in Tailor’s practice occurred after the loss of a family member, grief prompting him to embrace the colour pink, which he had once avoided due to its associations with sexuality. Pink became a tool for expressing both vulnerability and strength, uncertainty and resolve.
Through his work, Tailor addresses themes of the body, skin, illness, and mortality, using contrasts between rigid industrial materials and fluid, sensual forms. His anthropomorphic assemblages often convey deeper, unsettling narratives about love, life, and belonging.
Rooted in his working-class origins, Tailor’s use of found objects challenges the elitism of the contemporary art world. By transforming these over looked items of his upbringing into high art, he critiques the boundaries of the art establishment while asserting his place within it.
Ultimately, Tailor’s art is about survival and transformation. It is a testament to resilience, showing how people reassemble themselves and move forward, even when everything is on the cusp of falling apart. His work stands as a reminder that transformation, though imperfect, is always possible.
Tailor has shown in group exhibitions in London, Japan, Brussels and Antwerp and is currently listed with galleries in London, Germany and Denmark. During his BA, he secured sponsorship from Adidas to produce Platform Six, a LGBTQI group show and charity auction in aid of Stonewall. Collaborations included Nick Knight for Kanye West’s music video ‘Black Skin Head’ and he has worked as an intern for the Chapman Brothers (2016) and a assistant to Phyllida Barlow (2019/20). Previously Tailor has been featured in the Catlin Guide (2015), Extreme Typography Of The Garden (2015), ArtMaze magazine (2018), Exit Ludvig Rage (2021), Public Gallery (2020), among others and has been interviewed by Run Riot (2021), The Asian Curator (2020) The Elizabeth Collective (2020) and Delphian Gallery (2020).
Curriculum Vitae
Website: www.jamestailor.co.uk
Email: Contactjamestailor@gmail.com
James lives and works in London.
Resident at Sarabande Alexander McQueen Foundation (2021-2022)
Work 2018 -2019 Assisting CBE, RA - Phyllida Barlow
Education
2014-2017 Masters of the Arts, University of the Arts - Central Saint Martin’s (Distinction)
2016 Artist Internship with The Chapman Brothers
2011-2014 Bachelor of the Arts, London Metropolitan University (Distinction)
2011-2009 Diploma in Fine Art, City Lit (Distinction)
Exhibitions
2025 - RUNT (Solo Show), Second Act - Paradise Works. Manchester
2024 - RUNT (Solo Show), Second Act Gallery. London
2024 - Brushcrafters, Second Act Gallery, Prism Contemporary
2024 - Brushcrafters, Second Act Gallery. London
2024 - A Private Affair, Cloud Seven. Belgium
2023 -Safe House 2, Peckham London
2023 - Held in Flux, In Sight Projects London
2022 - Soon This Will Be Over, Sarabande. London
2022 - Solo Show - Held, Sarabande Foundation. London
2021-2022 - In Matters of the Soul, ASC Gallery. London
2020 - Capacity, The Smallest Gallery in Soho. London
2020 - A Matter of Soul, ASC Gallery. London
2020 - No Time Like The Present, Public Gallery. London
2019 -2020 - Bodies Self and Sex, No20 Arts. London
2019 - About Painting, No 20 Arts. London
2019 - White Conduit Projects, The Size of Thoughts. London
2018 - Five Years, Two Cakes. London
2018 - Peer Gallery, Bound. London
2018 - MLF Marie-Laure Fleisch, Art Brussels. Avenue du Port 86C, 1000 Brussels, Bélgica
2018 - Cob Gallery, Form. 205 Royal College Street NW1 0SG
2018 - Observatorium, Club Conscious. Samberstraat 40, 2060 Antwerp
2018 - MLF Marie-Laure Fleisch, In Favour of Three Dimensions. 13 rue Saint-Georges | Sint-Jorisstraat1050 Brussels
2017 - Degree Show Central Saint Martins, Show 1. London, United Kingdom
2015 - Complex Topography: The Garden, Global Art Project. Takamatsu, Japan
2015 - La Cambre, Print! Galerie 425, Brussels, Belgium
2015 – Angus Hughes Gallery, Summer Show. London, United Kingdom
2015 –Laundry, You’re the reason our kids are ugly. London, United Kingdom.
2015 - Charity Exhibition and Auction, Jezebel. London, United Kingdom
2015 - The Catlin Guide 2015, New Artist in the UK. Business Design Centre, London, United Kingdom
2014 - Affordable Art Fair, Recent Graduates. Battersea, London, United Kingdom
2014 - Degree Show, Cass 2014 London Metropolitan University United Kingdom
2014 - Charity Exhibition and Auction, 10x 10. The Shard, London, United Kingdom
2014 - The Threadneedle Prize, Figurative art today. Mall Galleries, London, United Kingdom
2013 - Charity Auction and Exhibition, Platform Six. The Barge house, Oxo Tower, London United Kingdom
2013 - Dalston Lane, Mollify, London, United Kingdom
2012 –Apricot Gallery, Who do you think you are? London, United Kingdom
Projects & Residency’s
2017-2018 – Helen Scot Lidgett Acme Project
2017 – Koppel Project Hive, London, United Kingdom
2017 – Nick Knight Video shoot for Tino Kamal at Show Studios, London, United Kingdom
2015 - Global Art Project. Takamatsu, Japan
2013 - Platform Six London Sponsored by Adidas
2013 – Nick Knight Video shoot for Kanye West at Pinewood Studios, London, United Kingdom
Publications
2016 – Night Flowers (Damen Frost)
2015 – Complex Typography, The Garden (Book)
2015 – The Catlin Guide 2015 (Book)
2013 – Platform Six (Magazine)
2015 - 10x 10 Charity Auction
Awards / Residency’s
2021-2022 - Sarabande, Alexander McQueen Foundation
2017-2018 - Helen Scott Lidgett/ Acme Award
2015 Japan Residency
2014-2017 - Vice Chancellor Scholarship (Central Saint Martins)
2017 – Koppel Project Hive Residency, London, United Kingdom