Biography
James Henry is a New York–based artist and creative designer whose abstract work explores the impermanence of urban life. Raised on Staten Island, he grew up in New Paltz and Western New York before returning to New York City for University. After a few years in Los Angeles, he came back for graduate school and has lived in or near the city for over 25 years.
Working with acrylics, pastels, collage, and screen print, James creates layered compositions that reflect on memory, movement, and place. His energetic use of color and intuitive mark-making evoke the textures of everyday environments weathered surfaces, shifting light, and fading impressions. Rooted in abstraction, his work invites a sense of pause and stillness within the constant motion of city life.
James holds a BA in Communications from St. John’s University and an MFA in Theater from The New School. He began screen printing in 2018 through continuing education at SVA and has continued his development through drawing and painting workshops with artists like Judy Mannarino and Sally Hirst.
His work has been exhibited at Van Der Plas Gallery, with Visionary Projects, and at regional art fairs including the the Armonk Outdoor Art Show.
“I love rivers. I love the way they go wherever they want. If they get to full they just overflow and flow wherever they want. They make up their own paths. New Paths.”
Slim, Cowboy Mouth
by Sam Shepard
Statement
My practice is rooted in abstraction and reflects on the impermanence of city life. How places shift, memories fade, and moments transform before we fully grasp them. I’m drawn to the subtle textures of lived experience: weathered walls, lingering shadows, the remnants of movement and time.
Through layered compositions and an energetic palette, I explore the emotional undercurrents that emerge from everyday environments. My use of color often contrasted against greys, blacks, and off-whites is intentional, and meant to evoke memory and mood rather than depict a literal scene. The process is intuitive and physical: sometimes using screen print, a found printing plate, or even newspaper; sometimes repetitive words or text that are later buried under paint. Each layer, each mark, suggests presence, erosion, and the trace of what once was.
Much of my inspiration comes from city life the rhythms, the quiet corners, the in-between spaces we pass without noticing. By isolating and abstracting these moments, I aim to create space for stillness and reflection within a constantly shifting world.
