James Bourbon Australia

My work is motivated by the strong belief that the visual stimulus of advertising manipulates thoughts. Against this reality, and informed by my career as a graphic designer, my practice deploys painting, print and textiles to create a space for critical vision.

My work begins with the found imagery of a forgotten printed world: posters, newspaper clippings, comics, advertising and outdated ephemera such as QSL cards. Like a DJ samples beats, I combine these disparate elements into high contrast black and white collages. The resulting works operate in the footsteps of Nouveau Realist and Pop artists from Jacques Villeglé and Mimmo Rotella to Andy Warhol. Unstretched materials, canvas, textile surfaces, and the artist's hand re/ centre physicality in our hyper- digital world.

My practice is a form of remembering; it is an archive of the recent past. I hope it prompts audiences to also seek out moments of discovery in their everyday lives.