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James Bourbon

@_jbourbon

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Visual Artist. Australia.

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A brief introduction to my practice and what drives it.

I came to fine art through graphic design and before that through the visual language of subcultures. Skate decks, record covers, gig posters, zines. Things that existed largely outside the institutional art world.

My work is rooted in a single preoccupation. The pervasive nature of advertising, mass media and the quiet control it has over how we think, what we want and who we believe we should be. Every surface, every screen, every public space is spoken for. My practice is in direct response to that.

I work from a physical archive of found printed material. Old advertising, horror imagery, subcultural ephemera. Things designed to be consumed and discarded that I treat as my source material. The process is collage based, scaled up and hand painted. People assume it’s screen printed. Its not.

I’ve shown work across Australia and internationally, including a museum exhibition, multiple solo shows in Melbourne and a book launch at the Institute of Modern Art. I still work a full time job. I still make work at midnight in a garage studio in Brisbane.

The goal has always been the same. Make work that makes people feel something and hopefully make them look at the world around them a little differently.

If that sounds like something worth following, welcome.

_____________________

Shoutouts to @lorembm for the video too by @_jbourbon

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6 months ago

James Bourbon is a Brisbane-based artist whose practice moves between two mediums without abandoning either.

He starts with research — archaeology, he calls it, digging for lost treasure in the archive. What he finds feeds the photocopier. He cuts, glues and arranges, building collages in the stark black and white aesthetic that defines his work. Then he scales them up with paint and brush, carrying the image to a size paper could never hold.

The distance between a xerox machine and a wall-sized canvas is where his practice lives. Collage is the thinking that makes it possible.
"We're building our memory and identity from the fragments of our experience, in many ways that mirror the collage process."

Read the full interview — link in bio.
@_jbourbon

#theweirdshowism #contemporarycollage #collageartist by @_jbourbon

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4 months ago

Between Sun and Shadow
Hand Painted Acrylic on 1.5m x 6m Canvas Hangings

Installation View
State of the Art: Reimagining Queensland
Rockhampton Museum of Art, Queensland Australia
July - October 2025 by @_jbourbon

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6 months ago

Las Vampiras • 50 x 60cm • Acrylic on Canvas

Currently showing @superwow.gallery in a great curated show by @christhings

Piece is available directly through @superwow.gallery by @_jbourbon

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5 days ago

I painted a kei van for @surfacefestival @miamimarketta for the launch of @goldtooth.gc by @_jbourbon

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a month ago

Boundaries give you direction.

On this episode, we dive into:

• How influences become something uniquely yours
• Why endless possibilities can stall creativity
• How repetition turns preferences into identity
• Why imperfection gives creative work character
• How research can lead the creative process
• What helps artists finish and move forward
• Why persistence matters more than talent

@futurehistory.co x @_jbourbon

📺 Watch on YouTube
🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
🔗 Links in bio by @_jbourbon

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2 months ago

★ ARTIST SPOTLIGHT ~ @_jbourbon ★

One of the highlights from our OVERSPRAY opening event was watching local artist James Bourbon completely transform a car in his signature style.

Keep an eye out for this rad ride as it now cruises the streets of Miami

★ by @_jbourbon

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2 months ago

James Bourbon visual artist and designer working across painting, collage, photography, textiles and installation He draws from an extensive archive of discarded advertisements, posters, comics and printed ephemera.

Through high-contrast black-and-white imagery, James transforms forgotten fragments of mass culture into contemporary works exploring memory, identity and the influence of visual media. His work has been exhibited across Australia and internationally.

On this episode, we dive into:

- How influences become something uniquely yours
- Why endless possibilities can stall creativity
- How repetition turns preferences into identity
- Why imperfection gives creative work character
- How research can lead the creative process
- What helps artists finish and move forward
- Why persistence matters more than talent

@futurehistory.co x @_jbourbon

📺 Watch on YouTube or Spotify
🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
🔗 Links in bio by @_jbourbon

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2 months ago

Mystery Babylon • 77cm x 180cm • Acrylic Paint on Aged and Distressed, Unstretched Canvas Drop Sheet

On display @loved_ones_gallery Fade exhibition • Runs until 17 July

Thanks @chico.wun for grabbing the photos! by @_jbourbon

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3 months ago

Galaktika
114cm (w) x 163cm (h) x 4cm (d)
Synthetic Polymer on Stretched Canvas

From my exhibition Memory, Myth & Magic @solgalleryspace
Melbourne, Australia
18.11.2025 – 30.11.2025 by @_jbourbon

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4 months ago

Poison Idea
132cm (w) x 146cm (h) x 4cm (d)
Synthetic Polymer on Stretched Canvas
2025 by @_jbourbon

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4 months ago

Megadeth
114cm (w) x 163cm (h) x 4cm (d)
Synthetic Polymer on Stretched Canvas

From my exhibition Memory, Myth & Magic @solgalleryspace
Melbourne, Australia
18.11.2025 – 30.11.2025 by @_jbourbon

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4 months ago