James Balmforth

James Balmforth was born in Plymouth in 1980. He currently lives and works in London. In 2003, James completed a BFA at Chelsea College of Art & Design. Balmforth's work aims to distil intricate concepts and specific aspects of human experience in deceptively simple forms by exploiting the evocative and analytic potential of material and symbolic structures. In works that often employ mechanical apparatuses to accentuate the primacy of relations of rudimentary materials such as stone and ash, Balmforth reveals the simplicity inherent in elaborate concepts, and the hidden complexities of seemingly straightforward ideas…

James Balmforth was born in Plymouth in 1980. He currently lives and works in London. In 2003, James completed a BFA at Chelsea College of Art & Design.

Balmforth's work aims to distil intricate concepts and specific aspects of human experience in deceptively simple forms by exploiting the evocative and analytic potential of material and symbolic structures. In works that often employ mechanical apparatuses to accentuate the primacy of relations of rudimentary materials such as stone and ash, Balmforth reveals the simplicity inherent in elaborate concepts, and the hidden complexities of seemingly straightforward ideas and structures. This engagement with formal and philosophical tensions reveals complexity and simplicity to be mutually dependent rather than diametrically opposed classifications.

His work also demonstrates an interest in the progress attained through the deconstruction of existing systems and structures, an interest exemplified in Failed Obelisk. By employing futility and failure to subvert static orders, he exposes the redemptive potential in collapse and degradation, promoting an optimistic, rather than fatalistic, worldview.

Balmforth's work has been featured in the Peckham Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2009); 'Bold Tendencies,' an annual exhibition of outdoor sculpture, at the Hannah Barry Gallery (2007-2009); 'The Centre of the Universe' at the Royal College Art Galleries (2009); 'Event Horizon' at the Royal Academy of Arts (2009); 'Optimism - The Art of Our Time' at the Hannah Barry Gallery (2009); 'The Elimination of Distance' XVIII Jesus Lane, Cambridge (2008) and 'Late at Tate: !WOWOW! and Plastique Fantastique' at Tate Britain (2008). In 2009, Balmforth's works, including Movement Towards Diminishing Object, were featured as part of a solo exhibition entitled 'The Making of Ashes' at the Hannah Barry Gallery in London.