(B. 1979, UK)
James Ostrer’s work often tests the limits of body politics in the ever evolving analysis of the western body, sexuality, and society at large.
Much like Paul McCarthy’s or George Condo’s seminal works, Ostrer's work forms a bizarre pattern of post capitalist tribalism with cartoon-like absurdity. They are rife with a sense of ritual endeavor and colour-saturated sensitivity; while palpitating with a nostalgia for various ephemera including junk food and animal parts they present themselves with an emphasis on the potential havoc the over consumption of these things wreak within our collective life experience. His works are often a catalogue of self- destructive behaviors, and are also managed in such a way that while transgressing themselves as odes to great works of historical art practice, they become re-packaged eye candy for uncomfortable consumption.
Guru Jimmy has often played a large part in Ostrer's creative process. James describes him as, "a life saving friend who is a spiritually connected amplifier of positive thinking and happiness that pushes me on a continuous journey of selfl-discovery and learning"
In 2009, Ostrer staged “Customer Container”; an installation in which the artist used photographs of himself taken by six different prostitutes under which the only condition was that they order him to perform as they wished. In 2011, his portrait of Nicky Haslam in Lucien Freud’s chair was “Curator’s choice” for the Taylor Wessing exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. The artist lives and works between London, New York and LA.
Select Exhibitions
2019 Post Apoca-Lips, Kristin Hjellegjerde, London 2019 Off Menu, Bedford Gallery, San Francisco 2019 The Opera House (part 2), Bombay Beach Biennale, Bombay Beach, CA 2019 Finding Me Through You, Feld + Haus, Frankfurt, Germany 2018 Johnny Just Came, Gazelli Art House, London, UK 2017 The Opera House, Bombay Beach Biennale, Bombay Beach, CA
2016 I, Cyborg, Gazelli Art House, London, UK
2016 Photo Junctions, Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja, Nigeria
2016 Guru Jimmy in collaboration with Absolut and Zuma Restaurant, Hong Kong Art Week, Hong Kong, China
2016 On the Table, Curated by Blair Fornwald, Jennifer Matotek, and Wendy Peart, Central and Sherwood Galleries, Regina, Canada
2014 Guru Jimmy, Rob Pruitt’s Venice Flea Market, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2014 Day of the Dead, OXO Gallery, London, UK
2014 Wotsit All About, Gazelli Art House, London, UK
2014 Illuminating the Future, Christies, London, UK
2014 Auction for Oceana, Phillips de Pury, London, UK
2013 Beast in the Beauty, Victoria House, London, UK
2012 The Romance Of Perfection, Merchant Archive, London, UK
2010 The Journey, Vienna-Heldenplatz, Austria
2010 The Journey, The Hague – Plein, Netherlands
2009 The Journey, New York – Washington Place, USA
2009 The Journey, Madrid – Retiro Park, Spain
2009 Death, Sex and Rebirth, Coco de Mer Gallery, London, UK
Art Fairs
2018 Johnny Just Came, Spring Break - Armoury Week, New York 2016 Gazelli Art House, Art Central Hong Kong, China
2015 Gazelli Art House, Art15, London, UK
Awards/ Festivals
2015 Lagos Photo Festival, Lagos, Nigeria
2012 Bloom Festival Public Art Event, Verona, Italy
2010 /11 Nicky Haslam, Curator’s Choice, Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
2008 Award Winner, Association of Photography Award