James McQueen
British, b. 1977
James McQueen is a British artist based between London and New York. Operating under a pseudonym, he has created paintings publicly as James McQueen since 2017. McQueen’s art is born from his admiration of vintage books. He first became interested in their graphic design through his grandfather who 'read and had a huge collection of books.' These literary-inspired paintings are rooted in the Pop art of the mid-1950s and 60s. McQueen’s art appropriates the design and branding of an inexpensive, mass-produced and consumed product to echo Andy Warhol’s appropriated imagery in the Campbell’s Soup paintings. McQueen’s technique is a process of layering the canvas with an abundant application of paint in a number of colours and shades before, once dry, he sands the work down so that a multitude of layers are visible in the finished piece. Finally, the surface is covered with lacquer to add extra richness and vibrancy.
In 2018 McQueen created a series of paintings and screen-prints entitled WHO THE F*** IS BANKSY, in which he replaced the Penguin logo with the iconic rat that frequently features in Banksy’s art. McQueen’s playful approach continued throughout 2018 and 2019, with a series of canvases that reveal the artist’s taste for harsh comedy, exemplified by REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED YOU FOR YOUR OPINION? ME NEITHER.
Although humour remains a key feature of his work to this day, 2020 is a year that marked a new function for McQueen’s art as he began to use his paintings as a tool for social and political comment. This materialised in response to the coronavirus outbreak beginning with LOCKDOWN 2020, and then YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE a work created to raise money for the NHS. Through 2021, McQueen continued to respond to what is current, from the international and political to the popular and national such as the release of the new James Bond movie with NO TIME TO DIE and England being in the UEFA European Cup Final with IT'S COMING HOME. In the same year, McQueen developed his use of Banksy inspired motifs by adopting the Banksy monkey. Many of McQueen’s recent paintings include a second monkey. He explains that he wanted his character to 'have a partner in crime, much like me and my wife.' The body of work that McQueen has produced between 2021 and 2025 is the most expressive and original of his career so far, displaying a greater range of colours, textures and techniques than his earlier work. McQueen’s complex use of paint elevates his art beyond the mere imitation of a nostalgic object towards an art that is rich and expressive.
2022 marked the artist’s first solo show at Halcyon, with the exhibition YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT. Works in the show explored themes of typography, Pop art and abstraction, using the graphic design language of book covers as a template for communication. In 2023, Halcyon hosted McQueen’s second solo exhibition IF YOU EVER LEAVE ME, I'M COMING WITH YOU. In the exhibition themes of love, obsession and introspection were explored using his signature Penguin Book covers. In 2025, a selection of McQueen’s work will be included in Halcyon’s Summer Exhibition. The show seeks to explore colour in relation to artistic practice such as influence, meaning and materiality.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 IF YOU EVER LEAVE ME, I'M COMING WITH YOU, Halcyon, London, UK
2022 YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT, Halcyon, London, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Summer Exhibition, Halcyon, London, UK
2022 Group Exhibition at 海角社区, Halcyon, London, UK
2022 High Fidelity, Halcyon, London, UK
