James E. Dupree - Artist Statement  

   Throughout my professional career, I have created bodies of work, or series, to illustrate a concept, direction, or idea. This approach has afforded me the opportunity to mirror concepts with specific artistic techniques.

   In my early works, such as the Totem series, produced during my residency at the Studio Museum of Harlem, I incorporated my traditional training in painting and sculpture with performance. In the Narrative Geometric Figurative Abstractions (N.G.F.A.) series, I combined mixed media collage with painted geometric patterns to create surfaces with a stained glass like appearance. This work, in addition to having incredibly decorative appearance, has strong social and political overtones expressed through cultural and universal symbols.

   Many of my works, including the mural scale painting at the Broad Street Tower Records in Philadelphia, illustrate an attempt to create the feeling of sound and movement, particularly of Jazz music, through representational form and repetition of geometric shapes.

   Until recently, my work has been characterized by a hybrid of figurative and non-figurative elements that juxtaposed African forms with contemporary references to American pop culture. My most recent series, Stolen Dreams and Forbidden Fruits, represents a turning point in my work--into a realm of complete abstraction where the boundaries between painting, collage, printmaking, and draftsmanship are blurred.

   My work allows me to speak truth to the injustices of my world, show the beauty of the experiences of my life, and explore the limitations of the materials and techniques of my artistic foundations. I attempt to decipher negative experience in positive ways through my art.

Education

1977 - University of Pennsylvania - MFA

1973-1974 - Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1973 - Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture

1968-1972 - Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH - BFA

Awards and Grants

2005 - Fleisher Art Memorial Grant

2000 - Independence Foundation Fellowship, Philadelphia, PA

        - Venture Fund Faculty Grant, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

        - Artist-in-Residence, Contemporary Arts Center, North Adams, MA

1999 - Tower Records Mural Project, Broad and Chestnut, Philadelphia, PA

1997 - Seagram's Award, Artist-in-Residence, African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA

1995 - Philadelphia Museum of Art Purchase Award

1992 - Mother Bethel Church Mural Project, Philadelphia, PA

1991 - Guest Artist, Pioneer Arts Organization, Cardiff, Wales, UK

1989 - Artist-in-Residence, National Museum, Cardiff, Wales, UK

1988 - Artist-in-Residence, Brandywine Graphics Studio, Philadelphia, PA

1984 - Fellowship Grant, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

1983 - Fellowship Grant, Artist-in-Residence, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY

Publications

Three Decades of American Printmaking, The Brandywine Workshop Collections

Collections (Partial List)

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Columbus Museum of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH