James Evans is an artist currently residing between London and North Norfolk. As a country boy growing up on the east coast of Suffolk his journey started in the 1980s at Ipswich School of at Art, where he began studying graphic design, but he quickly got drawn more to the freedom his friends exhibited in the fine art department. Then there was a choice to be made between photography and ceramics.
James chose the latter and went onto the BA Honours degree at Central St. Martins in London. Tutored by Rob Kessler, Richard Slee and Gillian Lowndes another transformation occurred. No longer on course to be a potter in St. Ives. The work completed on the course enabled James to get a full scholarship to study at Colorado University in Boulder, USA. Here he worked under the guidance of Betty Woodman, Scot Chamberlain and Tom Potter. The experience of working in a huge equipped department with access to a large studio was to lead to a change in scale and materials. Another aspect was the landscape. The college was at the base of the foothills to the Rockies, and cycling, skiing and bouldering were great distractions.
On returning to England in 1990 James got a teaching post as Artist in Residence and exhibited in Copenhagen. This show lead to his first solo show at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde, Denmark. At the end of the residency he started up his studio in South London. From here James was chosen by the curator Tessa Peters to be included in a show at the Barbican Centre called “Atlantic Crossings”. He was subsequently shortlisted for the prestigious Jerwood Applied Arts Prize 2001 and the Arts Foundation Fellowship in 2004. From here James was to have his first London solo exhibition with Gallery Cosa and represented them for three years at COLLECT. James has since taken part in numerous group shows, including; Award at Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (2011), Stoke-on-Trent; Ripe at the Crafts Council (2000) Solo exhibitions include; Abugation, Marsden Woo Project Space (2012); Galerie Sandra Buergel (2007); and Hypoplastic at Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham (2002). His work is also represented in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Presently and since 2000, James has been generously supported by Marsden Woo gallery, and been included numerous group exhibitions alongside many of his tutors listed above.
