JWP (AKA James Warren Perry) is a contemporary artist living and working in Northern California.  He received a BFA from the California College of the Arts and for many years represented his work through the James Warren Perry Art Studio and Gallery in Fairfax, Ca.

 

Perry has had a well-established career as a representational painter, primarily of the California landscape.  These paintings received critical acclaim and have been featured in over 150 exhibitions, including solo shows at the Riverside Art Museum, Stanford University, the Art Museum of Los Gatos and the Morris Graves Museum of Art, all in California.  Hundreds of his paintings are in private, public and corporate collections across the United States.

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The pandemic, combined with a series of personal transitions, created a seismic shift in Perry’s life and work.  In late 2020 he began a new series of paintings under the name JWP.  While his earlier paintings were based on direct, sustained observation of nature, these new works present his commentary on contemporary life using vivid colors and a bold graphic sense.  They are often humorous, with a pop surrealist sensibility.

 

While JWP’s new work is in many ways a radical departure, it is at the same time a return to his childhood.  His first influences were cartoonists.  As a young boy he admired R. Crumb, Charles Schultz and James Thurber for their visual and narrative genius.  He was so inspired by these artists that he drew a weekly cartoon strip for his hometown newspaper.

 

The artist has traveled extensively.  Folk, decorative and street art from Asia, Latin America and Africa animate and inspire this new body of work.

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Institutions exhibiting the work of JWP include The CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea; The Northern Illinois University Art Museum, De Kalb, IL;  The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA; The Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael, CA; The Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY; The Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA and The Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, CA.

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To explore JWP's earlier work and learn more about his artistic journey, visit https://www.jameswarrenperry.com/.

 

JWP lives and works in San Rafael, Ca.