JAMES LAHEY
"Baseball Portrait- Michael Jordan" 72x54 mixed media
"Baseball Portrait- Babe Ruth" 72x54 mixed media
"Baseball Portrait- Pete Rose" 72x54 mixed media
AUTOGRAPHED BASEBALLS - PORTRAITS
This series follows the 2023 exhibition and publication of “Mind, Memory and the Play of History." Central to that project was the relationship between thought and memory, between wisdom and history, and the distortion of time – images of toy soldiers, jump rope and baseballs were included.
Those paintings led directly to this new project. I have loved baseball for as long as I can remember and for this series, I am sharing my personal affections. These are paintings of autographed baseballs from my collection. They are simultaneously toys and cultural artifacts – I am undecided.
Considering the nature of play shifted me to reflections on existence – the possibility that there is not necessarily a beginning, or an end, is an unanticipated outcome.– James Lahey, April 2024
JAMES LAHEY
OTHER WORKS
Peony 40"x40"
Storm System, Late Afternoon. 60x60
Made in USA. 72"x48"
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Peony (2163) 5/15
Ultrachrome Pigment print 24”x20”
James Lahey is a Canadian artist who lives and works in Toronto, Ontario. He graduated with a BFA from York University in 1984.
James Lahey’s work is ever shifting and changing. Rejecting a linear progression or evolution in his work, Lahey prefers to jump between mediums and subject matter, for a series of works that is constantly moving in a circuitous path. Using paint as his primary medium, his subject matter ranges from skulls and motorcycles to delicate flowers, romantic landscapes, and abstracts. With the exception of the abstracts, Lahey often uses photography, sketches, gesture drawing and memory-sight as a starting point for his work. Each of the series are inspired by a different notion, with The Abstractions inspired by Lahey’s own memories and journals, and The Ocean Paintings associated with a single original photograph.
James Lahey has exhibited extensively including solo shows at Winsor Gallery, Museum London, Galerie de Bellefeuille in Montreal, Flowers Gallery in London, UK. He received a Materials Assistance Grant from the Ontaro Arts Council, a Jack Bush Scholarship for Drawing Faculty of Fine Arts at York University, was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy, and received the Achievement Award from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Public and Corporate Collections include the Government of Canada, Art Gallery of Nova Scota, The University of Toronto, Hunter Museum, AT&T and AT&T Canada, Citibank, MasterCard USA amongst others. He has been represented by J. Cacciola Gallery W since 2002.