St James, Marty
Marty St James, high exponent of the video portrait, has worked primarily across performance art, video art and drawing. “Exploring the physical, the electric and the pencil”, as he describes it. A time-based media artist straddling modernist and post-modernist times, his work locates itself between the narrative of meaning and the meaninglessness of re-assemblage. Working with Anne Wilson in the 1980s, he developed a satrical performance style of video chronicling the life and times of suburban England. St James could be seen as a type of visual Beckett. He has exhibited in leading museums in the USA, Europe, Russia, South America and Japan.
St James is currently Professor of Fine Art in the school of Art and Design at the University of Hertfordshire.
– Catherine Elwes and Chris Meigh-Andrews (editors), 2006, ‘Analogue: Pioneering Video from the UK, Canada and Poland (1966-88)’, Exhibition Catalogue, EDAU Preston
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Interview of Marty St James
View the interview transcript here
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Exhibitions:
Solo (selected)
2006
The Invisible Man, Chelsea Art Museum, New York
Time-based Drawings, Hackney Forge Gallery, London2005
Somewhere or in Between, Chelsea Art Museum, New York
2003
The Journey of St.Maurin, National Centre For Contemporary Art, Moscow
2001
Betweeness, Galerie der Gegwart, Wiesbaden, Germany
New works – Marty St.James, The Standpoint Gallery, London
Scores Gallery @ Oxo, London
Betweeness, Colville Place Gallery, London2000
Picture Yourself, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
1997
Video Works Amongst The Permanent Collection, Ferens Museum and Art Gallery, Hull
1994
New works, Gallery ÎMÌ, London
1991
New Video Portraits, 101 Gallery, Ottawa,Canada
Video Portretten, Het Recept, Amsterdam, Netherlands1990
Hotel, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
Video Portraits National Portrait Gallery
Viewing Figures, Camden Arts Centre
Video Portraits, Landesvertretung Niedersachsen, Bonn1989
Hotel at Air, Air Gallery, London
1987
Romance DonÌt Dance Alone, Video installation and drawings Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
Jerusalem Spacex Gallery, Exeter
Jerusalem Hacienda night club, Manchester1985
Paintings and Performance Art Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
1983
Private Investigations Rochdale Art Gallery
1982
Perfect Moments Camden Institute Gallery, London
Perfect Moments Oriel Gallery, Welsh Arts Council Gallery, Cardiff
Perfect Moments Spectro Arts Centre Gallery, Newcastle1980
New Performances and related Drawings, Wrexham Arts Centre
1979
In Celebration of the Six Senses, Aberyswtyth Arts Centre
Group Shows (selected)
2007
Analogue Fieldgate Gallery, London
Videomix La poetica de los hoteles La Cas Encendida, Madrid2006
Analogue Tate Britain, London
Arteba Buenos Aires, Argentina2005
gHOST University of Hertfordshire
2003
Gallerie Blickensdorf, Berlin
Cocktail II Deluxe Digital Gallery, Hoxton, London
Lux Video Open, RCA, London2002
Journeys – Two ArtistsÌ Video Installations Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), Moscow
Travelling, Elena Vrublevskaya Gallery, Moscow
Digital Prints Zinc, Birmingham
Interrogating The Surface Millbank Gallery (Royal Military College), London
Two Artists Centre for Attention, London
Cocktail Deluxe Digital Gallery, Hoxton, London
Digital Prints Zinc Gallery, Manchester
Interrogating The Surface Atkinson Gallery, Millfield
Art For The Millennium, New Greenham Arts Centre, Greenham
Studio Voltaire, London
Rich Pics Colville Place Gallery, London
The Digital Aesthetic, Harris Museum, Preston2001
EVO 1 international exhibition, L Gallery, Moscow
Artists Prints Inside Space, London
Printmakers Council Exhibition at The Royal National Theatre, London
Rich Picts exhibition of digital works curated by the Colville
Place Gallery – New Greenham Arts
Smoking Man The Castle Museum, Nottingham2000
Painting The Century 101 Portrait Masterpieces, The National Portrait Gallery, London.
Self Portraits Flowers East Gallery, East London
Falmouth Arts Centre – electronic prints
Art cinema OFF-OFF, Copenhagen, Denmark
Centre dÌArt, Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain
Cine Cafe, Paris
Batofar, Association Signe st Eau, Alfortville, France1999
VIDARTE, Barranca del Muerto, Mexico
Transat Video, Herouville Saint-Clair, France
RAI SAT, SpA, Rome, Italy1998
Electronically Yours Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan
Pandemonium Video Festival, Lux Centre, London
Zone Festival of Electronic Media, Maidstone
Sporting Heroes National Portrait Gallery, London1997
I.C.A. London. Video Artists – presented and showing of videotapes curated by Julia Knight
Screens Exhibition of Electronic Moving Image, Trondheim Art Museum, Norway
Small Is Beautiful Flowers East Gallery, London1996
Pandemonium Video Festival Institute of Contemporary Art, London
A Collection For The Future Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
The Cutting Edge, Davies Street Gallery, London1995
4 Video Portraits, Davies Street Gallery London
ARTEC International Art & Technology Biennial Nagoya, Japan
Video Positive, Bluecoat Gallery Liverpool
The Ark, 7 monitor video portrait installation
Artists Words, Fringe Gallery, Glasgow1994
The Swimmer reinstalled for the new wing of The National Portrait Gallery opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth
1993
New Video Works Kunstakademeit, Trondheim, Norway
The Portrait Now National Portrait Gallery exhibition of contemporary portraiture
Multi- monitor video portrait The Swimmer purchased and installed at The National Portrait Gallery, London1991
Whitechapel Art Gallery Open 2 (invited artist) London
1990
Viewing Figures, Camden Arts Centre, London
European Media Festival, Osnabruck, Germany
Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
Third eye Centre Gallery, Glasgow
The Bundeshaus, Landesvertretung Niedersachsen, Bonn, Germany
The Civic Monument Drawings, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
Visions and Transmissions, Harris Museum, Preston
Eighty to Ninety, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth1987
Paradise Lost, At The Edge an installation, Air Gallery, London
1985
Charting Time, Serpentine Gallery, London
Anglo Francais exchange, Tate Gallery London
Anglo Francais exchange, Pompidou Centre Gallery Paris
Love Sacred and Profane curated by James Lingwood, Plymouth Arts Centre
Stoke City Museum and Art Gallery
Channel 5 video showcase, London Video Arts1984
Anglo French Video, Pompidou Centre, Paris
Human Interest Art about People curated by Norbert Lynton,
The Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester including Francis Bacon, Henry Moore & Stanley Spencer1983
Drawings, A Mixed Exhibition to Explore the Nature of Drawing, Rochdale Art Gallery
1980
Silent water, Video at Air, Air Gallery London
Art and the Sea I.C.A Gallery, London
Art and the Sea, Bluecoat, Liverpool1984
Sculpture by Young Artists Living or Working in Wales, Aberyswtyth Arts Centre, Aberyswtyth
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff1976
New Live Contemporaries, Acme Gallery, London
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Videography:
Videotapes by Marty St James
1976
Mr and Mrs1980
Silent Water (3 screen video installation)1994
The Sky1995
Micky
Untitled
Poppy
Breath1998
Metamorphosis Version 21999
Old Fire Station Tapes2000
Boy/Girl Diptych (2 screen – National Portrait Gallery, London)
Picture Yourself2001
Mans Head
Oneiric
Familyway2003
The Journey of St. Maurin (3 screen – National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow)
From Brent X To Arnos Grove2006
The Calling
Homage2007
The Invisible Man (3 screen – Chelsea Art Museum, New York)Videotapes by Marty St James and Anne Wilson
1983
A View From This Side
Man of Teak
An American Romance
True Life Romance
A Videotape By1984
Tom Boy/Tom Girl
Beatnik
Footsteps on Mars
Visual Art Songs for the 80’s1986
Iron Heart
Postcard
No Escape From The Flesh Pad
Kiss Me Quick
Desperate Desire
Scented Island1987
Three Classic Pulp Romances in English
Art
Heartbeat
Comment1988
Romance Don’t Dance Alone1989
Hotel
Video Portraits
Video Shower
Video Lift (5 screen installation)1990
Hotel (Version 1990)
Portrait Series
Neil Bartlett
Laughing Woman
Crying Woman
The Actress
The Swimmer (11 screen installation, first exhibited at National Portrait Gallery, London)
The Singer
The Dancer (14 screen – Camden Arts Centre, London)
Running Woman
Wasdeh
The Smoking Man1994
Cuckoo (self portrait)
The Sea
Ordfurher
Dream Soul
Hospaderia1995
Ark (7 screen – Feren’s Art Gallery, Hull)
The Ark (7 screen – Video Positive, Liverpool) -
External Links:
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Artist works:
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