Mabon

James E Crowther (b. 1974)
James E Crowther has earned his reputation
for painting his idiosyncratic signature ‘cut
out’ portraits, rendered in oil on panel. It is
through his attention to detail and his skill
at ‘capturing’ his subject that the sensitivity
of their inner psyche is revealed.
Crowther is a British figurative painter
living and working in rural Oxfordshire
with his two daughters, three dogs and
partner. He was born in Southampton in
1974 and grew up on the River Hamble
Hampshire where his father ran a boatyard.
He secured a place at Brighton art college
in 1993 where the world opened up for him.
He graduated under principle tutors of
Andrzej Jackowski and Brendan Neiland and
continued to live in Brighton for the next
ten years embracing the rich club scene.
In 2004 he had his first painting accepted
for BP Portrait Prize. The highly acclaimed
writer Blake Morrisson said on seeing
James’ painting at the National Portrait
Gallery, “A good portrait painting does not
merely capture a likeness, but connects with
the inner energy of the sitter, showing the
‘flickers of feeling, shadows of thought, or
what Leonardo da Vinci called The motions
of the Mind”. Crowther has been shortlisted
for the Sequested Art Prize 2021/22 at
Unit Gallery and has had several solo
shows in London and exhibited at the
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the BP
Portrait Prize, Figurative Art Now at the
Mall Galleries, Lynn Painter Stainers Prize,
The Discerning eye, The Threadneedle
Art Prize and art fairs in London, New
York, Miami, Paris, Switzerland and Greece.
Works are in numerous private collections
internationally.
‘Backstroker’
oil on bespoke panel, 27 x 15 cm
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