James Cullinane

James Cullinane's drawings, collages, paintings and installations employ a wide range of materials from the traditional (paint, paper, wood, etc) to the unexpected (Wasps' nests, sink drains, map pins, etc). These materials function as symbols, signs and marks that expressively and conceptually explore ideas related to philosophy, art history, theory and literature, time, space, physics and the human condition. James’s process-based work often plays with a tension between fictional or implied space and actual physical space as he combines and recontextualizes traditional and non-traditional materials. His process of visual recontextualization is a search for knowledge similar to Dante’s or Virgil’s journey to the underworld. This process “has to do with finding a way to move beyond what I think I know about an image” to arrive at something more meaningful. Cullinane’s compositions are thus visual representations of that journey and constitute what he has learned from each particular experience of making a work of art. James Cullinane received his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science, NYC in 1979. His work has been exhibited locally and nationally. In 2001, he was a resident at the Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, a participant in the 2002 Artists in the Marketplace 22, Emerging Artist Program, at The Bronx Museum, NYC and in 2004 a resident at the Spaces World Artist Program, Cleveland, OH. He lives and maintains his studio in New York City.

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Learn more about our artists and their work!

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James Cullinane received his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science in 1979. His work has been exhibited locally and nationally. In 2001 he was a resident at the Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, a participant in the 2002 Artists in the Marketplace 22, Emerging Artist Program, at The Bronx Museum, NYC and in 2004 a resident at the Spaces World Artist Program, Cleveland, OH. He lives and maintains his studio in New York City.

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James Cullinane received his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science in 1979. His work has been exhibited locally and nationally. In 2001 he was a resident at the Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, a participant in the 2002 Artists in the Marketplace 22, Emerging Artist Program, at The Bronx Museum, NYC and in 2004 a resident at the Spaces World Artist Program, Cleveland, OH. He lives and maintains his studio in New York City.

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To learn more about our artists, why they create what they make and why you should collect their work read our Studio Visit conversations with each artist.

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A winter selection of new work from gallery artists.

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Three Artists. Three Artworks. Multiple interpretations.

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Collective Isolation a group exhibition of gallery artists.

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A collection of alluring and beautiful small artwork by gallery artists! Each week of November and December we will highlight a different small work from each of our artists! Stay tuned!

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Summer group show of gallery artists: James Cullinane, Pauline Galiana, Sharon Lawless, Derek Lerner, Jerry Walden and Pancho Westendarp

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Studio Visits January - June 2019

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James Cullinane's drawings, collages, paintings and installations employ a wide range of materials as symbols, signs and marks that expressively and conceptually explore ideas related to philosophy, art history, theory and literature; time, space, physics and the human condition.

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In March 2019 we visited James Cullinane in his Queens, NY studio to discover more about his past, the evolution of his work and what explorations await in the near future.

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Bog Constellations is an exhibition of new ink on panel drawings by New York City artist James Cullinane that, through a process of intense meditative-like concentration and controlled breathing, express a search for form and meaning.

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Portals is an exhibition of a new series of diptychs (ink and acrylic on paper on panel) by New York City artist James Cullinane that explores the philosophical experience of now.

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The work of three artists in A Random Meander: James Cullinane, Nene Humphrey and Taney Roniger, like the flâneur, revel in this freedom of exploration and visual titillation created by the manipulation of systems or networks and repetition to investigate visual and conceptual space. Each artwork in the exhibition allows the viewer to follow random paths and connect the dots through unknown spaces that result in mapping of unrestricted and unfamiliar places.

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James Cullinane's latest exhibition will include new mixed media paintings on panel and drawings. Cullinane layers paint, map pins and photocopies on Mylar of etchings of animal traps taken from "Camp Life & Tricks of Trapping" by Hamilton Gibson published in 1882 into poetic, metaphorical compositions that explore the process of painting and image making and the meanings of both.

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This exhibition will highlight 10 new works on panel that includes collage, painting and even sculptural elements in each piece. Starting with small diagrams of ceiling vaults taken from old architectural dictionaries that are collaged, layered and reconfigured, Cullinane builds his composition with rigorous process. The optical effects that result from the process are accentuated by the addition of forms that are actually three dimensional, like map pins, sink drains and wasp’s nests. This conceptual bridge connecting implied or fictional space and physical space forms a tension that is central to Mr. Cullinane's studio practice.

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For more than 10 years Mr. Cullinane has been exploring the metaphorical power and psychological significance of children's book and dictionary illustrations. Through laborious process Cullinane transforms illustration into complex, often seemingly nonsensical images that float somewhere between the figurative and non-figurative.

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