James Bishop

James Bishop can be called the only real painter of his generation still alive. He has developed a unique, poetic, and sensitive visual vocabulary, and describes himself as "an Abstract Expressionist of the quieter kind." Bishop likes to have his art speak for him, as he believes it has a language of its own: "Artists should neither be seen nor heard, with the exception of opera singers, of course." Although Bishop began his career with stronger colours on large canvases, which speak for themselves, he soon turned to earth tones, and then later grays in square, mostly unmodified, smaller formats. This tendency toward reduction has remained constant from the 1960s until just recently, especially with regard to individual works on paper. Bishop has been on a persistent search for an aesthetic balance among opposing factors: drawing and painting, opacity and transparence, two and three dimensions, open forms and simple tectonic elements. In his work he has succeeded in compellingly interweaving these opposing forces into a subtle tonal relationship, creating a miniature-like, intimate aura. Text in English and German.