In James Gortner’s paintings, his personal conflicts, moods, and dreams combine with other people’s stories and magical myths of the past and present to create new myths.
Gortner‘s paintings lean into sculpture, sometimes reference photography, and involve
circumstances and processes akin to performance. He usually incorporates into his
paintings reclaimed wood and sustainable materials, as well as paints on layers of
reclaimed artist’s paintings, adding physical texture and tension to enhance the
narrative, or abstract the storytelling at play.
Gortner’s singular identity as an artist is rooted in his hybrid of spiritual practices, artistic
influences, and his unlimited technical freedom as a painter. His points of reference
range from large-scale History Painting and Contemporary Abstraction, to experiential
painting and conceptual art (All of which get re-evaluated and renewed in Gortner’s
work). Gortner intends his paintings to be vehicles for contemplation of our environment,
interconnectedness, and transformation.
Painter James Gortner received his B.A. from Hawaii Pacific University and his MFA from
Columbia University. Gortner’s work has been exhibited at The Fisher Landau Center for
The Arts (New York), Mana Contemporary (New Jersey), San Bernardino County
Museum (California), RW Norton Art Gallery (Louisiana), The LeRoy Neiman Gallery (New
York), Lyons Wier Gallery (New York), Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery (Connecticut), and
Dittrich & Schlichtum Gallery (Berlin). His work has been featured in print in New
American Paintings (North East Edition), New American Art Collector Magazine, Men’s
Journal, and the Berliner, among other publications. His artwork is included in the
collection of the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, Jimenez-Colon Collection, and
the Wooster Collective as well as the private collection of President Jiang Zemin of
China and actress Reese Witherspoon, among others. James Gortner lives in New York
and works from his studio at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, NJ.