James Payne

Background

About James Payne

I started the gallery with Joanne Shurvell in 2010. I studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martin’s and during this period worked as an assistant to the dealer Thomas Dane. Joanne Shurvell, a former Communications Director at the ICA is a freelance arts writer and arts marketing consultant. Our initial show ‘A Bright and Guilty Place’ showcased thirteen artists. The starting point for this exhibition was the concept of mapping and the ways in which artists explore the notion of mapping and cartography in their work. The show was very much a way of launching artists that we wanted to work with on future shows. Since then our focus has been on one person shows. The policy of the gallery is to bridge the gap between an artist-run space and a commercial gallery, showcasing emerging UK and international artists and featuring work from all media. Many of the artists we show have international reputations but are little known in the UK. Some of our artists are recent graduates who we mix up with more established artist, curators, musicians, architects and others who challenge traditional notions of art. Collaboration is an important part of our work process. We work closely with outside curators, including Beverley Knowles, Michael Petry (of MOCA), Mark Jackson (of IMT) and Neville Brody. We also have promoted first time curators such as Edward Vince and Andrew Curtis. We have worked closely with other galleries such as a joint show with MOCA, Sir John Soane’s museum, Upstream (Amsterdam) and Crim’art (Milan). PayneShurvell have a programme of free talks, lectures and tours as a way of promoting contemporary art. An important part of PayneShurvell is publishing affordable limited editions. These are a way of promoting our artists as well as supporting the gallery (http://payneshurvell.com/?cat=24). I also work as the film editor for Garageland magazine, where I have interviewed filmmakers such as John Waters, Ken Russell and Terence Davies.