Jame Linehan: Pingere, Discere, Docere Paint, Learn, Teach

When first entering James Linehan’s exhibition one may have an initial impression that the bodies of work in the two galleries are from two different hands and poles apart in terms of approach. How can an individual artist produce such seemingly different work?  

In one gallery, we encounter Burning Down the House, a mammoth wall installation of bold, non-objective paintings arranged from the floor to the top of the wall. Various-sized colored canvases, each with bold gestural marks, dominate our field of vision. As one shifts attention to the adjoining room, we encounter an array of somewhat realistic landscapes depicting Maine environments, from verdant woodlands to rock-bordered seascapes. 

What unites the abstract and landscape works are the artist’s brushstrokes, surface treatment and, importantly, how these elements remain linked when subjected to shifts in scale. For instance, when isolated sections of Linehan’s landscapes are magnified, there are visual connections to the scaled-up brushstrokes in his abstract compositions.  

Image Credit

James Linehan (American, born 1953). ME FECIT – I Made This, 2023. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist & Littlefield Gallery.