Artists James Cousins

b.1965, Christchurch, New Zealand
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand

James Cousins is known for his complex paintings which are formed from combined stencils, found imagery and processes extending from a paint, canvas and materiality nexus.

Born and raised in Christchurch, painter James Cousins completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Ilam, Canterbury School of Fine Arts (1989) before qualifying as a teacher (1998). Cousins later went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland (2004), where he is currently a Senior Lecturer.

Cousins’ first exhibition was in 1996 and he has exhibited regularly in New Zealand and Australia since. In 2000 he was the recipient of the Christchurch-based Olivia Spencer Bower Award Fellowship and the works created during his residency are now part of the Christchurch City Art Gallery collection.

Exhibition highlights include Necessary Distraction, Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki, Auckland (2016), the solo exhibition Restless Idiom, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland (2015) and inclusion in Code NZ at Canvas International in the Netherlands (2004), which resulted in participation in the 2005 Rotterdam Art Fair.

Gow Langsford Gallery has represented James Cousins since 2008.

Education

2004 MFA, First Class Honours, University of Auckland

1998 Diploma of Teaching, Christchurch College of Education

1989 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts

selected exhibitions

Download full Curriculum Vitae

2020, Song Chain, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

2018 Step Size Zero, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

2016, Resident, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

2014 Agent, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

2013 New Work '13, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

2012 Genera, Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2011 Accent, Gow Langford Gallery, Auckland
Front Load, Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2009 SIGNAL, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

2007 Small Utopian Dreams, 64zero3, Christchurch

2006 Snares and Traps, Starkwhite, Auckland

2005 Projected Stories and Plastic Nudity, 64zero3, Christchurch
Wetlands, Starkwhite, Auckland

2004 Pretty Vacant, Starkwhite, Auckland
Delusional Painting, Campbell Grant Galleries, Christchurch

2003 New Work, Campbell Grant Galleries, Christchurch

2001 Cultivar, Campbell Grant Galleries, Christchurch
New Work, Cite Gallery, Auckland

2000 Thin White Line, Campbell Grant Galleries, Christchurch

1999 Recent Works, University of Canterbury, School of Fine Arts Gallery

1998 Two Works, Campbell Grant Galleries, Christchurch
Group, Brian Queenin Gallery, Wellington

1997 Landscape With Colour, Brooker Gallery, Wellington