James Drinkwater

We Are Clumsy Now on This Southern Beach - New Works from the South of France

22 March — 5 April 2016

Born 1983
Lives and works in Newcastle

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Represented by nanda\hobbs

WE ARE CLUMSY NOW ON THIS SOUTHERN BEACH
New work from the South of France

For artist James Drinkwater, life and paint collide in an outpouring of joy, colour and line. In WE ARE CLUMSY NOW ON THIS SOUTHERN BEACH - New Work from the South of France—his first exhibition in Australia since his Brett Whiteley Traveling Art Scholarship residency in Paris—Drinkwater’s love of the great Modernists, in particular Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso is acknowledged and celebrated.  It is an exhibition that lifts the soul and engages the mind. Drinkwater finds the beauty of our world and questions “why do we not seek light over darkness”?

The last eighteen months have been the culmination of a remarkable period of travel and creativity for the artist. It is a journey that has taken him from his coastal home in Newcastle NSW to the desert of Australia and on to Paris, London and the South of France. He was accompanied by his young family who provided a source of inspiration and amplified the passion and joy he felt walking the streets of his artistic heroes.

His family has directed the artist’s eye, focusing on the minor moments of a day—a young child placing his arms in the air, lost in euphoria; his beautiful muse sunbathing on the beach. Palm trees and blue sky interplayed with his vision and through his hand and brush combine to speak of unbridled optimism.  History will note that this time was shortly before the Paris terror attacks of November 2015. The great power of Drinkwater is to remind us that no matter how hard we try to destroy, humanity can love and create hope where seemingly none exists. He connects us though his tangled lines and viscous paint to the natural world to create moments of intense beauty.

Our voyeuristic experience is amplified as we are invited by the artist to experience the personal moments of reverence in the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, otherwise known as the Matisse Chapel. Pierre Bonnard’s influence pervades Drinkwater’s large boards and touches of intimacy are revealed to the viewer over time. One feels the internal debate as the artist grapples with spiritualism and the belief systems of the religious world. It is a world with plenty of options, yet there seems to be only one that makes sense to Drinkwater—aesthetic over ritual. He is a romantic, and, at its heart, the truth of the beauty that he chooses to embrace provides his personal enlightenment. And like the painters he so admires, his gift to us is to share it.

Ralph Hobbs
March 2016.

James Drinkwater Studio Visit from Nanda\Hobbs Contemporary on Vimeo.

 REQUEST PRICELIST

\ Exhibition featured works

James Drinkwater

Arriving Nice

2016 \ Mixed media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Avenue Henri Matisse (Vence)

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Bathers St Tropez

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Boy with Ice Cream (study)

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 60 x 50cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Boy with Ice Cream Marseille

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 140 x 120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Emerging From the Hotel Le Refuge Through Forest to the Sea

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 140x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Floating Flowers for sleeping Woman

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Flowers Fish the Woman the Boy (Gigaro)

2016 \ Oil and collage on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

He Created an Empire with Bucket and Spade

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 60 x 50cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

In the Chapel Grounds

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Interior Walls of the Painters World (Hotel Brice)

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Lazy Now on This Southern Beach

2016 \ Mixed Media on canvas \ 60 x 50cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Le Jardin Musee Henri Matisse

2016 \ Mixed Media on Board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Long Day in Gigaro Beach

2016 \ Mixed media on board \ 140x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Private Garden Antibes

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 140x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Self Portrait with Two Heads

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 60 x 50cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Slow Morning at The Regina

2016 \ Mixed media on board \ 140x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

The Windows of Vallauris

2016 \ Mixed Media on canvas \ 60 x 50cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

The Windows of vallauris 2

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 60 x 50cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Two Red Suns Setting Over Nice

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 140x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

Vincenzo with Fire Engine

2016 \ Mixed media on board \ 180x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

We Are Clumsy Now on This Southern Beach 2

2016 \ Mixed Media on board \ 140x120cm

SOLD

James Drinkwater

\ Poem by James Drinkwater

James Drinkwater

\ James and Vincenzo, Nice

James Drinkwater

\ James at Matisse Chapel

James Drinkwater

\ Vincenzo and Lottie, Vence

James Drinkwater

\\ Gallery Installation 1

James Drinkwater

\\ Gallery Installation 2

James Drinkwater

\\ Gallery Installation 3

James Drinkwater

\\ Gallery Installation 4

James Drinkwater

\\ Gallery Installation 5

James Drinkwater

\\ James in the gallery

\ Other exhibitions

PEOPLE,

Group Exhibition

29 February — 16 March 2024

Jonathan Dalton

MELBOURNE ART FAIR

22 February — 25 February 2024

Paul Ryan

Le Capitaine

8 February — 24 February 2024

Contact Us

to find out more about We Are Clumsy Now on This Southern Beach - New Works from the South of France.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.30pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm