To capture weightlessness, movement and emotion in a single, gestural brushstroke required transgender artist James Nares to reimagine her entire art-making process. In addition to suspending herself above the canvas, Nares also created her own calligraphic brushes and paint, practicing meticulous strokes over and over until finally achieving that perfect swipe.
Dubbed an “action painter” and a “scientific painter,” Nares’ process is the result of years of researching, testing and expanding on her style. Nares moved to New York City in 1974 after studying at the Chelsea College of Art. As she is also a musician, Nares fell into the city’s “no wave” scene — a brief avant-garde music and visual art movement concentrated in downtown Manhattan. The experimentation with noise, and dissonance that became popular among no wave artists likely informed Nares’ art style and fueled her passion for creative experimentation throughout the 1980s.
Nares is represented by the Kasmin Gallery, which has exhibited her work since 1991. The artist’s solo exhibitions include 2014’s “High Speed Drawings” and 2013’s “Road Paint Paintings.” The latter featured works that Nares created with thermoplastic paint — the same type of paint that is used on tarmacs and roads. Her work is part of the collections of the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Milwaukee Art Museum staged a retrospective on Nares in 2019.
While primarily known for her artwork, Nares' film projects have been part of solo exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and presented at the 2008 Anthology Film Archives in New York and at the New York IFC Center in 2011.
On 1stDibs, find authentic James Nares prints, drawings and paintings.
$15,000
Jamie Nares -Original flower monotype (unique, hand signed) Framed, de-accession
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
James Nares Untitled flower monotype, 1988 Monotype on hand made paper Pencil signed and dated by James Nares on the lower right front Frame included: floated in the original wood fr...
Handmade Paper, Monotype
Iridescent Oil Paint and Wax on Paper by James Nares
By James Nares
Located in Stamford, CT
Unique oil paint and wax on paper by James Nares ( British, b. 1953 ). Untitled. circa 2008. Archivally framed in a 12-karat white gold frame.
Paper
$25,000
Fountain
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
James Nares Fountain, 1987 Monotype on paper Hand signed and dated lower front Unique Frame included Measurements: Framed 41.5 by 34 inches Work 30.25 by 22.25 inches Dazzling Jame...
Monotype
Artaud's Arms (Exhibited at Brooklyn Museum)
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
JAMES NARES Artaud's Arms (Exhibited at Brooklyn Museum), 1988 Color Monotype on Gampi Torinoko Paper 36 × 27 inches Signed James Nares and dated '88 l...
Monotype
$1,800
H 18.25 in W 24.25 in D 0.75 in
Two Columns by Michael Hurson framed abstract with greco roman pillars on stage
By Michael Hurson
Located in New York, NY
In this unique Michael Hurson monotype, stylized Greco-Roman pillars flank a plane of crosshatched and dotted texture in black, brown, and purple ink. The...
Monoprint, Monotype
$1,581Sale Price|40% Off
H 8.9 in W 7.37 in
Italian School, Nicolo Grassi, 18th, Worship of Venus, The Venus Sacrifice, Amor
Located in Greven, DE
Italian School, 18th Century, Circle of Grassi, This old master drawing is drawn in the late-Baroque or Rococo style. It depicts a woman worshipping Venus/ preparing a sacrifice for ...
Handmade Paper
$416Sale Price|20% Off
H 40 in W 28 in
Beneath the Rainbow, White and Blue, Abstract Geometric Figure, Cyanotype Print
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This handmade cyanotype monotype presents a striking interplay of geometric abstraction and atmospheric depth. Layered translucent forms in deep Prussian blue and soft white overlap ...
Paper, Monotype
Olga Vladimirovna Rozanova Watercolor on Paper
Located in Pasadena, TX
Olga Rozanova "Abstract Geometrics" watercolor on paper (Russian, 1886-1918) Rozanova was born on June 22, 1886, in the small town of Melenki near Vladimir, Russia. After finishing at the Vladimir Women’s Gymnasium in 1904, she studied painting in Moscow. Dissatisfied with the “wretched system of instruction” at the state-run Stroganov Academy of Arts and Industry, she transferred to Konstantin Yuon’s private school, where she met Liubov Popova...
Paper
19th Century Italian Wall Paper Painting
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Italian Floral Wallpaper Fragment 19th Century Italian hand painted floral design wallpaper lined with linen, in gold leaf wood frame (as is).
Watercolor, Gouache, Handmade Paper, Linen
$695
H 36 in W 28.75 in D 1.5 in
"Black Nude" Minimal Figurative Black and White Abstract Monotype Print
Located in Houston, TX
Black and white minimal monotype print of an abstracted female torso. The work is signed and titled by the artist in pencil along the front lower margin. Currently hung in a black fr...
Monotype
Elegant Vintage Oil Painting on Canvas, 20th Century, Hand-Painted
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Vintage painting of elegant woman looking forward gracefully, with mysterious look, nice colors combinations, great decorative painting. Sig...
Canvas, Wood
James Strombotne painting "Spring Bouquet" acrylic on canvas
By James Strombotne
Located in Camden, ME
James Strombotne is a contemporary artist who has had a successful career since 1956. His artwork is held in many prestigious museums and private collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Hirschhorn Museum of the Smithsonian Institute. According to Strombotne, "Any subject is fair game...
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,080Sale Price|20% Off
H 24.5 in W 15 in D 0.63 in
Sylvain Vigny Original Figurative Oil on Paper Painting, Signed
By Sylvain Vigny
Located in Miami, FL
Portrait by very well known listed French artist Sylvain Vigny. The colors are slightly dark yet the fascinating way Vigny paints the face of the young boy shows lots of light and in...
Paint, Paper
$600
H 12 in W 18 in D 0.05 in
Ghosts of Philadelphia 3, dramatic black & white narrative
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Monotype Dramatic imagery from Tom Bennett’s series of black and white monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom...
Monotype, Archival Ink, Archival Paper
$4,875
H 23.5 in W 26.875 in
"Telephone in Landscape, " Charcoal on Handmade Paper by Miguel Castro Leñero
By Miguel Castro Leñero
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Telephone in Landscape" is an original charcoal drawing on handmade amate paper by Miguel Castro Leñero. The artist initialed the piece lower rig...
Charcoal, Handmade Paper
James Strombotne painting "Two Women" Acrylic on Canvas
By James Strombotne
Located in Camden, ME
James S. Strombotne is an American painter and renowned contemporary artist. He was born in 1934 in Watertown, South Dakota, but was raised and educated in Southern California, rece...
Canvas, Acrylic
James Nares, 1st Edition, Skira Rizzoli, New York, 2014
By James Nares
Located in CA, CA
First Edition, published by Skira Rizzoli Publications, New York, 2014. This long-awaited comprehensive monograph catalogues the career of multi-disciplinary artist James Nares. B...
Paper
Starling (From artist book A Bestiary by Bradford Morrow)
By James Nares
Located in Toronto, Ontario
James Nares (b.1953) is famous for his swirling and dynamic abstract creations, that frequently attempt to capture the moments of creation in the artistic process. Arriving in New Y...
Woodcut
Sold
H 37.25 in W 83.13 in D 2 in
"Girl about Town" Signed, Dated and Numbered Screen Print by James Nares
By James Nares
Located in Stamford, CT
"Girl About Town" signed, dated and numbered 6/45 screen print by James Nares (American, 1953), 2017. The publisher of this print is Durham Press. Ne...
Paper
James Nares Screen Print in Colors "In Three Words 2" 2012
By James Nares
Located in Stamford, CT
A 2012 screen print by James Nares titled "In Three Words 2". In the 1980s, Nares began to paint using brushes of his own manufacture to create monumental stokes that appear almost...
Paper
Girl About Town
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
2017, screenprint on heavy white Saunders paper, 28 x 75 inches (or 75 x 28 inches*), edition of 45*This work is signed so that it may be hung horizontally or vertically. James Nar...
Screen
Girl About Town
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
2017, screenprint, 28 x 75 inches (or 75 x 28 inches*), edition of 45 *This work is signed so that it may be hung horizontally or vertically.
Screen
Early Days
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
2015, screenprint, 47 x 34 3/4 inches, edition of 48
Screen
Girl About Town
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
2017, screenprint, 28 x 75 inches (or 75 x 28 inches*), edition of 45 *signed so that it may be hung horizontally or vertically
Screen
I'm Blue
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
2017, screenprint on Saunders 425 g, 28 x 75 inches (or 75 x 28 inches*), edition of 45 *signed so that it may be hung horizontally or vertically
Screen
Road Paint Print 6
By James Nares
Located in New York, NY
2016, intaglio from polyurethane mold, 46 x 22 inches (116.8 x 55.9 cm), edition of 12 For his Road Paint series, Nares brought a road striping machine into his studio. These tools ...
Intaglio
James Nares, 2014
By James Nares
Located in CA, CA
First edition, published by Skira Rizzoli Publications, New York, 2014. This retrospective monograph catalogues the career of multi-disciplinary artist James Nares. Beginning with...
Untitled Oil on Waxed Paper by James Nares
By James Nares
Located in Stamford, CT
An oil on waxed paper, Untitled #15603, by James Nares (New York / England b. 1953).
Paper