James J.A. Mercer
Bio: James J.A. Mercer is a New York-based artist working in painting, drawing, and animation. He received a Bachelor’s degree from RISD, was a resident at Clocktower Productions and has exhibited at Pioneer Works and the Drawing Center. His animated videos have been featured in the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation.
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement: My recent paintings orbit around daily life and alienation. Strict geometries are paired with domestic imagery, complicating the emotional read of a piece and creating dissonance between subject matter and abstract form.
I’m exploring framing, considering how things like windows, doors and images within images can create a point of view in an imagined place, or even in an imagined body. I prefer to exclude full figures so that the viewer becomes the protagonist, framed by the picture they’re looking at, immersed in a scene populated by objects that are suggestive, but inconclusive by design. Pulled closer and pushed away.
L to R: Fantasy James 3 (40" x 60", Oil on canvas, 2021); Untitled (39" x 39", Oil on canvas, 2020); Untitled (40" x 60", Oil on canvas, 2021); Your House (39" x 39", Oil on canvas, 2020); Two Truths and a Lie (20:30 minutes, Single-channel digital video, 2020); Two Truths and a Lie (details), (20:30 minutes, Single-channel digital video, 2020)
James J.A. Mercer and Yifan Jiang
Two Truth and a Lie
3:07 min excerpt of 20:13 min animation 2019,
Graphite on paper, Photoshop, Processing, After Effects, Touchdesigner, Max MSP, Sunvox, Adobe Premiere.
The story follows a baby fleeing a hurricane who gives away three aspects of itself to three people it meets on its journey. A fable structure is contrasted with playful and eccentric digital visuals. Two Truths and a Lie is a coming of age story pushed and pulled to the breaking point, exploring the emotional landscapes of childhood and the fundamental elements of a person. The soundtrack was custom made using Max/Msp and Sunvox. By foregrounding digital artifacts, the making of the work is brought to consciousness and subtexts emerge.
