There is never more than a fag paper between them - Joey and Dan
Medium: Pencil on fag (cigarette) papers
Dimensions (framed): 34.5cm x 45cm
Date: 2020
Price: Please contact the artist
Description: The artist overheard a teenager describing a gay couple as “never having more than a fag paper between them”. James explains “In my teenage years, I didn't know anyone gay, there were no 'out and proud' public figures and school was an exclusively heteronormative environment due to Section 28. The only gay couples I had to look up to were to be found in my collection of gay porn magazines”.
After graduating in 2002 with an MA Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, James worked in a central London commercial art gallery for 3 years. Following this, he moved into the public sector where over the past 14 years he has worked for the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Arts Council England and the UK Government Art Collection. In January 2019, after a 17-year break, he went back into the studio to continue his art practice in London. Since then, he has been shortlisted for the Derwent Art Prize (2022), won the Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize at the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition (2021), been selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2021) and awarded a special commendation at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2020). His work is held in the UK Government Art Collection and private collections in the UK, USA and China.