JAmes Bradley Marshall

  • The iconography of paper bags

    This series of sculptures continues my exploration of the long history of the medium, “Graphite on Paper,” as well as my personal interest in examining icons of art history through transformative contemporary processes. Whereas “graphite on paper’ traditionally has meant two dimensional work, for me it evolved from flat to three dimensional over multiple years through experimentation and play. Taking ‘graphite on paper’ from 2D to 3D grew out of my drawing practice, creating large intensely black drawings with warped, bulging surfaces that suggested three dimensional possibilities which I finally responded to and acted upon.

    My current process involves applying 40 to 50 or more brushed-on coatings of a liquid compound containing graphite, white glue, plaster and hardeners to paper bags, and then using multiples of these individual units to create each sculptural piece.  The process involves many months and sometimes even years as each piece is experimented with, observed and amended, slowly evolving into a finished piece. Its references to art history are paramount to me.

    The ubiquitous, utilitarian brown paper bag, with its multitude of cultural references, and which on a personal level harkens back to my first job as a teenage grocery bagger (just one of many such references which also includes their use by homeless populations across America for the safe-keeping of personal items) became for me the perfect three dimensional metaphor for exploring sculptural space. A paper bag is an ideal three dimensional spatial model, with interior, exterior, geometric, measurable, as well as purely organic qualities. Further, each bag is made by an individual working in a factory somewhere, many of which are stamped with the makers name on bottom. From my observations, many of these makers appear to belong to new American immigrant populations. I value this connection; that these mundane daily receptacles of all manner of goods allow me to connect with the names of their original maker, and therefore in a very real and tactile sense to the individuals themselves. Just like no two people, no two paper bags are alike, and I consider each finished piece of sculpture that I make, composed of multiples of these individual units, to be a collaborative effort involving the bags original maker and myself as the artist.

    Can an ordinary paper bag take on aesthetic, art historical, and possibly even emotive human dimensions? That is a question I consider and attempt to explore with my work.  The transformation from a utilitarian object made in a factory into a work of art with references to the history of art and thereby, to the essential history and evolution of human culture, continues to fascinate and capture my attention with each new piece I make.

  • Exhibitions

    2021 Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine – gallery artists, sculpture

    2019 Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine – group show, sculpture

    2019 ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – summer gathering, sculpture

    2018 Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine – sculpture, one person show

    2016 PHOPA Gallery, Portland, Maine – sculpture, two person show

    2015 ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – paintings, 2 person show

    2013 ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – group show, sculpture

    2013 ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – 2D-3D, Graphite, Paper, one person show

    2012 CMCA Biennial, Rockport, Maine – sculpture / mixed media

    2012 Coleman Burke Gallery, Portland, Maine – “Continuance,” sculpture installation

    2012 Addison & Woolley, Portland, Maine – Eyes on Asia - photographs

    2011        ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – 2 person show, sculpture & drawings

    2010        Stephen & Palmina Pace Galleries, Fryeburg, Maine – sculpture & drawings

    2010        Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Biennial, Rockport, Maine - drawings

    2010        ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – drawings

    2008        Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Biennial, Rockport, Maine - drawings

    2007        ICON Contemporary Art, Brunswick, Maine – drawings

    2007        GRAPHITE, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine – drawing

    2007        Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Portland, Maine – drawings

    2002        Grand Central Terminal, NYC, A Day In The Life Of Africa – photographs

    1994        Municipal Arts Society, NYC, The New New Yorkers, photographs

    1992        Tsimshatsui Center, Hong Kong, Hong Kong In Transition, photographs

    1988        Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn, NY,  Document Brooklyn – photographs

    1983        Pratt Institute; Higgins Gallery, Brooklyn, NY – works on paper

    1982        Forrest Avenue Consortium, Atlanta, Georgia, Moving Parts – sculpture

    Published

    1995 Planet Vegas; A Portrait of Las Vegas, Collins Publishers SFO, photography

    1994 A Day in the Life of Thailand, Collins Publishers SFO, photography

    1993 Hong Kong; Here Be Dragons, Stewart, Tabori & Chang NYC, photography

    Print Media

    Decor Maine Magazine, cover photo & page 39, drawing. June 2020

    The Portland Press Herald, “PhoPa’s step into sculpture recalls modernist giants,” Daniel Kany, 04/24/2016

    The Portland Press Herald, “Another successful two-person show at ICON,” Daniel Kany, 10/11/2015

    The Portland Press Herald, “Marshall finds more than just function in a paper bag,” Philip Isaacson, 05/12/2013

    The Portland Phoenix, “James Marshall escapes flatness at icon” Nicholas Schroeder, 05/03/2013

    Maine Sunday Telegram, “Biennial backs up good looks with visceral subtext,” Daniel Kany, 10/21/2012

    The Portland Phoenix, “Sorting through the CMCA’s Biennial,” Nicholas Schroeder, 10/10/2012

    Maine Sunday Telegram, “Furniture related art: Clever craftsmen reach new heights,” Daniel Kany, 06/10/21012

    Maine Sunday Telegram, “Photographs show the global reach of Maine Artists,” Daniel Kany, 01/08/2012

    Maine Sunday Telegram, “Beck, Marshall create exquisite works with graphite,” Daniel Kany, 09/04/2011

    The Free Press, “Art currents: Graphite at ICON Contemporary,” Britta Konau, 08/31/2011

    The Portland Phoenix, “Moving Forward,” Annie Larmon, 06/01/2010

    The Portland Phoenix, “More than black and white,” Nicholas Schroeder, 05/19/2010

    Center for Maine Contemporary Art, 2008 Biennial catalogue

    Portland Press Herald, “Pushing the boundaries” Bob Keyes, 08/23/2008

    Portland Museum of Art, 2007 Biennial catalogue, page 43

    MFA, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY 
BA, Fine Art - American University, Washington, DC

    Private collections; Maine & New England, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, San Francisco, London. Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME