JAMES BURNETT--Abstract Paintings for Sale. JAMES BURNETT--Oaxaca Series Watercolors for Sale.
BIDDINGTON'S ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST GALLERY
Current Exhibition: ABSTRACTION--JIM BURNETT and BART GULLEY
Shelnutt Gallery,Rensselear Polytechnic
15th Street & Sage Avenue, Troy, NY
April 6-May 15, 2006
James Burnett
"Lost Cities" Paintings
CREATIVE PROCESS visits the Tribeca and Hudson, New York studios
of
non-objective painter James
Burnett
Editor's Note: In the vernacular of art, "non-objective" refers to a painting not specifically representing a scene or
an object: it might be called a gentle version of "abstract". Its opposites are words
such as "representational" or "figurative".
BURNETT: In the late-1990's, I began a series of paintings called "Lost Cities".
The name derives from the Greek root for the word "city" or
"civilization". Cities were meant to be ideal places where
people--friends--would meet and grow together. These paintings are non-specific journeys through the landscapes of my
mind.
James Burnett
in His Tribeca Studio in 1999 with
Lost Cities #38
BURNETT: I'm excited about this body of work
because it reconnects to a place I was going with my painting in my
20's. Now I am able to resolve issues I couldn't resolve at that
time.
BURNETT: I stopped doing the more abstract work and spent
many years doing figurative painting. The two approaches are not
as different as you might think: The way I organize space, for
instance, remains consistent. From the period of figurative
work, I learned what I wanted to do with the less specific, pure
painting.
BURNETT: My roots are in
abstract expressionism. I've been afraid to call myself
that since everyone who did is dead--even the second generation
Abstract Expressionists who aren't much older than I am.
BURNETT: The earliest works in the Lost Cities series
date from 1997 (before the show at Jo Rain Gallery in
Dublin). I was trying to use an
Albert Pinkham Ryder palette--moody, night colors. Ryder was my
first hero and he's still my hero. 
James Burnett Lost Cities #18
Oil on Canvas, 1997
BURNETT: The earlier works in the series are pictorial; I'm
trying to make the current ones more painterly. Besides Ryder, the
other painter whose work is close to my ideal is Willem de
Kooning in his Merritt Parkway and Havana
series.
BURNETT: I work on various types of papers. On a heavy paper--like the Arches 300 lb.
cold press--the pebbly surface is very hard; the paint rests on the
surface. A lighter weight, hot press paper is more absorbent.
Sometimes I have to stretch the lighter paper with tape around the
edges to flatten it after painting. I adjust my handling of the paint to
suit the surface.
BURNETT: In the past, I had found gouaches and watercolors easier than oil because I could work
faster and more spontaneously--now I can achieve that in my oil paintings as well. The occasional dribbles
are controlled to the extent that if I don't like them, I paint them out.
With this type of painting you need to know when to quit--that's a
cliché, but it's true.
BURNETT: When people ask me" "What's good art?" I don't
talk to them about push/pull spatial relationships, or color harmony
or paint handling. Good art is whatever's got class. That's
something you work out over time. I don't think much about dates of paintings--mine or anyone else's. The Altamira cave paintings are some of the best gestural and figurative paintings ever made.
BURNETT: Following a transitional period in 2001-2002 when I moved my studio upstate, I began another phase in the Lost Cities series that I have named "Wilbur Flats". In these paintings, I'm covering the canvas or paper less; I use the white. I make a few broad strokes with a large brush. Gestural painting is an experience of time and space that you don't get elsewhere.
BIDDINGTON'S offers for sale recent abstract works by the artist in
JAMES BURNETT GALLERY
View JAMES BURNETT's representational works in these
Biddington's Galleries:
Price range of artworks: $350-$5000
JAMES BURNETT
Solo Exhibitions:
Conde Gallery (New York)
Chuck Harris (New York)
Robert Anthony (New York)
Sarah Renschler (New York)
Triangle Gallery (San Francisco)
Lighthouse (Hermosa Beach)
JAMES BURNETT Group Shows:
"Fanelli Show" OK Harris (New York)
Conde (New York)
Jo Rain
(Dublin, Ireland)
Images (Fort Smith, AR)
Kronen (New York)
Vorpal (San Francisco)
Union Court Gallery (San Francisco)
Maxwell
Gallery (San Francisco.)
JAMES BURNETT Awards & Credentials
Phelan Awards, Palace of the Legion of Honor, (San Francisco)
Jersey State College 1977-1980--Adjunct faculty watercolor and oil
painting
ABOUT THIS FEATURE
CREATIVE PROCESS at Biddington's is designed as a forum for watching art in the making. Usually, this process happens in the privacy of the artist's studio. At BIDDINGTON'S Contemporary Art Gallery & upmarket, online art & antiques auction--we find it interesting to witness the steps leading to the end product and to hear the artists speak about their work in the relaxed surroundings of their own studios.
Contact Biddington's
BIDDINGTON'S CREATIVE PROCESS Archives:
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Javier Astorga Figurative Metal Sculpture
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James Burnett Non-Objective Painter
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