JAMES COUSINS

New Work '13 - Lorne Street Gow Langsford Gallery 17 April–11 May 2013 Auckland City

Press Release

Developing and expanding on themes evident in his earlier exhibitions Signal (2009) and Accent (2011), in New Work’13 James Cousins continues to intertwine and enmesh abstraction with figuration in his reticent and illusional works.

As in earlier series’, these paintings are constructed through compounded layers of processes. They combine intricate and systemised pattern-making procedures with unmediated spontaneous acts. Impossible tensions arise in the tenuous meeting of his pictorial subjects (in this case flora taken from a published anthology of plants) and material working processes of the paintings themselves. This is compounded in some works by deliberate and heavy overworking of otherwise delicate and fragile paint surfaces.

About the Artist

James Cousins was born in Christchurch in 1965. In 1989 he completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Ilam, Canterbury School of Fine Arts. He graduated with a Diploma of Teaching from the Christchurch College of Education in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2004 from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. In 2000 James Cousins was the recipient of the Christchurch-based Olivia Spencer Bower Award Fellowship and the works created during his residency are now part of the Christchurch City Art Gallery collection. Cousins has since been selected for inclusion in numerous award exhibitions including: The Wallace Art Awards (2005), Waikato National Art Awards (2002) and the Visa Gold Awards (1996, 1998). In 2004 Cousins was selected for inclusion in Code NZ at Canvas International in the Netherlands, which resulted in participation in the 2005 Rotterdam Art Fair. During 2007 Cousins was included in the contemporary painting exhibition: PX: A Purposeless Production/A Necessary Praxis (St Paul Street Gallery, Auckland) curated by Leonhard Emmerling. Cousins currently holds a position as lecturer at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland.

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About the Gallery

Gow Langsford is a commercial art space committed to fostering and promoting the best contemporary art from New Zealand and abroad. Located directly opposite the Auckland Art Gallery, Gow Langsford Gallery represents over thirty established New Zealand and international artists. Gow Langsford is one of the country’s most established galleries and is widely regarded as its most influential dealer gallery. Alongside a regular and varied exhibition schedule, Gow Langsford is a market leader in works on the secondary market.

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Address

28-36 Wellesley Street East
Auckland
New Zealand

Opening Hours

Monday – Friday, 10 am–5 pm
Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm
Closed Sunday

Gow Langsford Gallery

28-36 Wellesley Street East, Auckland, New Zealand

+64 9 303 9395
http://www.gowlangsfordgallery.com

Opening hours

Monday – Friday, 10 am–5 pm
Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm
Closed Sunday

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