James D. Hopkins (b.1994, Cardiff) is an artist living and working in London. He has exhibited in London, various locations around the UK as well as in Madrid, New York and Florida and in 2018 was an October resident at chaNorth Artist Residency, Upstate New York.
James’ work focuses on the asymmetrical and absurd, exploring cultish iconography and performative combat. Consuming an abundance of prolific online media which is absorbed and regurgitated into a mesh of over-saturated grotesqueness; combining humour with a feeling of unrelenting dread. Paintings. Characters and installations which are aesthetically alarming, repetitive, nostalgic humorous and unsettling, grounded in the idea of Kayfabe; a professional wrestling term describing staged events portrayed as if they were real. He works with costume, painting, performance, video, sculpture and installation, often combining these media simultaneously.
His alter-ego Deadboy the Kid is a member of DANKCollective, a London art collective who focus on the absurdity, humour and violence of post-irony culture.
Contact
Instagram @jamesdhop
Artist CV
Education:
2016/17 Fine Art BA(Hons), Kingston University, London, UK
Upcoming Exhibitions:
TBA, Cable Depot, London, Spring 2024
08/23, Well Worn, SET Ealing, London
Solo exhibitions as part of DANKCollective:
09/20 Distant Peak, Peak Gallery, London, UK
09/19 Not to My Taste, Harlesden High Street, London, UK (with AVD)
Group exhibitions/performances:
07/23 DANK VS Küle Wampe, Gasleak Mountain, Nottingham, UK
02/23 Doozy Magazine Launch, Bristol, UK
12/22 ORGONE DONORS, Brixton Beneficiary, London, UK
07/22 The Magnificences, Take Courage Gallery, London, UK
03/22 SET open studios, London, UK
07/21 Going Away.tv LIVE - Judgement Day. Arebyte Gallery, London UK
03/21 FOOD, Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, Bury, UK
10/20 no-longer-being-able-to-be-able, skelf, online
03/20 Spout, Ghost Whale, London, UK
12/19 Megalith, part of the Wrong Biennale, Longyearbyen Svalbard, NO
10-12/19 Villa Rosa, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, UK
03/19 Tales of Diverted Reality at Manhattan Bridge, New York, USA
02/19 UK Young Artists Takeover, Nottingham, UK
10/18 New Materialities of the Digital Age, Harlesden High Street, London, UK
09/18 localhost:AVD, APT Live @APT Open Studios Deptford, London, UK
09/18 Archipiélago, former British Embassy, Madrid, ESP
08/18 I'm Baba, Art&Craft West Norwood, London, UK
07/18 Types of Abstract by ArtNumber23, The Old Biscuit Factory, London, UK
07/18 The Capsule Vending (VI) Machine by Vandal, various locations, UK
03/18 Feeling Gloomy Presents This Was Hardcore, curated by SXRVXVE Brooklyn Bazaar, NY, USA
01/18 TURDUCKEN: Ready Steady Puke, Centrespace Gallery, Bristol, UK
10/17 Members' Show 2017 selected by Andy Holden, OUTPOST, Norwich, UK
09/17 Video Social Club #3 'Faking It,' The Athenaeum, Plymouth, UK
07/17 Quasi Status, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London, UK
06/17 Air Display-A Show in the Sky, Hampstead Heath, London, UK (with OX ART)
06/17 Kingston University Degree Show, Kingston School of Art, London, UK
05/17 We're All Involved In This Mess, Enclave Lab, London, UK (with Panic Attack)
06/16 Kingston University Degree Show, Knights Park, London, UK
05/16 Mudding, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston, London, UK
Screenings/Film Festivals:
12/21 Sick N' Wrong 72 Hr Debacle, Orlando Florida, USA
12/21 Bad Video Art Festival, Khodynka Gallery, Moscow, RUS
12/20 Sick N' Wrong 72 Hr Debacle, Orlando Florida, USA
08/19 Sick N' Wrong Film Festival, Orlando Florida, USA
04/19 Digbeth First Friday, Cheap Cheap gallery, Birmingham, UK
10/18 Soup, Screening event at Caraboo Projects, Bristol, UK
05/18 Bad Video Art Festival, A3 Gallery, Moscow, RUS
12/17 Bluescreen, Cube Cinema, Bristol, UK
12/17 Experimental Film Festival, RAOB Club (The Buffs), Middlesbrough, UK
09/17 Open Film Night (as part of Scalarama Festival), Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, UK
Writing/Publications/Talks:
05/21 DANK Artist Talk, BA Fine Art course, Kingston School of Art, London, UK
12/20 Seiren III: DEEP-FRIED, online publication
06/19 Rung Magazine issue #2 with Dank Collective (in-house publication of East Bristol Contemporary),
Bristol, UK
Residencies/Awards:
ChaNorth Artist Residency, New York, USA
Project Herman Award for Art & Design from Kingston School of Art
Croydon Project Award for Painting 2016
