Work by Richard W. James
April 9 - May 9
Opening Reception April 10
Although Richard W. James’s sculptures have appeared in shows around the world, this will be the first close-to-home solo Texas exhibition for the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi assistant professor of art after his scheduled April 2020 RCA show was postponed due to the pandemic.
Featured in the RCA Main Gallery, James’s unique sculptures employ materials and methods learned from his childhood in the rural south, featuring ceramic heads, hands, and feet with a soft cloth body, embroidered clothing, and found objects often accompanying the toy-like figures.
James states “These hard and soft materials/methods have come to represent the traditionally feminine and masculine facets of my rural upbringing,” said James in describing the origins of his process. “The clay in my sculptures—a combination of both masculine and feminine—has come to symbolize myself within this trifecta.”
James’s body of work meditates on understanding the cultural lenses shaping his world view. Each work seeks to question the veneer of authority applied to historical events and advocates for taking back ownership of narrative, personal morality, and the use of iconography within this process.
“James’s work is full of ironic juxtaposition” said Elena Rodriguez, curator of exhibitions for RCA. “The hard and soft. High Art with low. Neoclassical aesthetics take on a feeling of patheticism, while the expert craftsmanship is often defaced by the artist’s own hand.”
James began working with ceramics during his undergraduate studies at the University of Tennessee at Martin, continuing his work with the medium at Indiana University and University of Kansas, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics. In 2019, he moved to Corpus Christi after accepting an assistant professor of art position at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
Featured five times in Ceramics Monthly and profiled in Hi-Fructose Magazine, James held artist in resident positions at The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont. (2017-2019); Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tenn. (2016-2017); and Zhenrutang in Jingdezhen, China (2015). His work is part of permanent collections at the Holter Museum of Art and Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, the Martha Vida Collection, the Porter-Price Collection, Kolva-Sullivan Collection, and Zhenretang Permanent Collection in Jingdezhen, China. He has been in over 44 exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Asia.