James Angel
Angelstudio@qwest.net
www.jamesangel.us
Scottsdale, AZ
Angelstudio@qwest.net
www.jamesangel.us
Scottsdale, AZ
Artist Statement:
James Angel has watched the urban
landscape of his native Phoenix morph
over time. He notes that the place around
him remains a work in progress, and in his
paintings repeatedly references the fluidity
of the environment in which we live.
Phoenix is quick to change. It is a city under
constant revision: buildings appear
overnight, vacant lots are filled, older
buildings are razed. In his paintings, Angel
compresses time and places old imagery
next to new in much the same way we
might see a mid-century modern home
adjacent to new condos. He couches harsh
urban realities in the softness of nostalgia
and asserts the essentialness of artists
and art in the urban community. Angels
takes his visual cues from textured walls
common in recently built homes, signs and
other elements of urban landscapes.
These are featured in his paintings, and
graffiti—a modern, universal and distinctly
urban art form—is celebrated.
Traces of Angel’s travels through Europe
and various Latin American countries
emerge in his work. He is fascinated with
the ubiquity of graffiti, and the distinction
between the artistry of various tag and
sticker artists as opposed to meaningless
vandalism. Angel deconstructs the
language of urbanity, graffiti included, and
revels in sights commonly seen on city
blocks. His paintings relate to the
collaborations of Warhol and Basquiat in
which Basquiat’s street-aesthetic was
applied over Warhol’s sleek corporate
emblems—the ultimate metaphor for the
organic growth of art in the urban
environment.
Angel gravitates to the DIY principle of the
modern world, as manifest on Youtube.
com and MySpace. He investigates the way
our newfound ability to capture and alter
virtual space translates into our efforts to
control and modify our immediate
environment. His paintings are rife with the
idea that this is our world, and we will
choose how we shape it.
James Angel has watched the urban
landscape of his native Phoenix morph
over time. He notes that the place around
him remains a work in progress, and in his
paintings repeatedly references the fluidity
of the environment in which we live.
Phoenix is quick to change. It is a city under
constant revision: buildings appear
overnight, vacant lots are filled, older
buildings are razed. In his paintings, Angel
compresses time and places old imagery
next to new in much the same way we
might see a mid-century modern home
adjacent to new condos. He couches harsh
urban realities in the softness of nostalgia
and asserts the essentialness of artists
and art in the urban community. Angels
takes his visual cues from textured walls
common in recently built homes, signs and
other elements of urban landscapes.
These are featured in his paintings, and
graffiti—a modern, universal and distinctly
urban art form—is celebrated.
Traces of Angel’s travels through Europe
and various Latin American countries
emerge in his work. He is fascinated with
the ubiquity of graffiti, and the distinction
between the artistry of various tag and
sticker artists as opposed to meaningless
vandalism. Angel deconstructs the
language of urbanity, graffiti included, and
revels in sights commonly seen on city
blocks. His paintings relate to the
collaborations of Warhol and Basquiat in
which Basquiat’s street-aesthetic was
applied over Warhol’s sleek corporate
emblems—the ultimate metaphor for the
organic growth of art in the urban
environment.
Angel gravitates to the DIY principle of the
modern world, as manifest on Youtube.
com and MySpace. He investigates the way
our newfound ability to capture and alter
virtual space translates into our efforts to
control and modify our immediate
environment. His paintings are rife with the
idea that this is our world, and we will
choose how we shape it.
| “Don't Believe Them”, 48” x 36”, Acrylic on Canvas, James Angel, 2005 |
| “Nature Preserve”, 24” x 30”, Acrylic on Panel, James Angel, 2007 |
| “Serving Your Aesthetic Needs Since 1998”, 30” x 30”, Acrylic on Panel, James Angel, 2007 |
| “When Intelligence Fails”, 60” x 30”, Diptych, Acrylic on Panel, 2006 |
| “Urban Explosion”, 48” x 52”, Acrylic on Panel, James Angel, 2007 |
| “Times Square”, 44” x 44”, Acrylic on Panel, James Angel, 2006 |