James Webb

Born in 1975, Kimberley, South Africa
Lives and works in UK

James Webb is an artst, known for his site-specific interventions. His Practice often involves sound, found objects, and text, invoking references to literature, cinema and the minimalist traditions. By shifting objects, techniques, and forms beyond their original contexts and introducing them to different enviroments, Webb creates new spaces of tension. These spaces bind Webb's academic background in religion. theatre, and advertising, offering poetic inquiries into the economics of belief and dynamics of communication in our contmporary world.

As Brandon LaBelle writes, “The works of James Webb circulate around a complex mixture of emotional and affective states; of longing and despair, of the ecstatic and of hopefulness, states of bodies and minds that move throughout his practice to raise questions of individuality and community, belonging and displacement, fragmentation and recuperation.” (Xenagogue, edited by Anthea Buys, published by the Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015.)

His recent projects include a filmic study of the abandoned Carlton Hotel in downtown Johannesburg, the development of an audio guide to the 3rd floor of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía based on all the previous exhibitions held there, and numerous versions of his continuing A Series Of Personal Questions artwork where he literally interviews objects as a form of speculative research and live exhibition display.

Webb has had solo exhibitions at, amongst others, the Art Institute of Chicago, USA (2018); SPACES, Cleveland, USA (2018); Norrtälje Konsthall, Norrtälje, Sweden (2018); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, United Kingdom (2016); Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway (2015); CentroCentro, Madrid, Spain (2013); Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (2012); and mac, Birmingham, United Kingdom (2010).

Major group exhibitions include the 13th Biennial of Dakar (2018), 4th Prospect Triennial of New Orleans (2017), Documenta 14 (2017), 13th Biennial of Sharjah (2017), 12th Bienal de la Habana (2015), 55th Biennale di Venezia (2013), 3rd Marrakech Biennale (2009), Melbourne International Arts Festival (2009), and the 8th Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (2007). Other notable group shows include those at spaces such as Wanås Konst and Historiska, Sweden; MAXXI Roma, Italy; Darat al Funun, Jordan; Théâtre Graslin, France; and the Tate Modern, London.

Webb’s work have been the subject of the two monographs, “…” (blank projects, 2020), and “Xenagogue” (Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015).

Education:

Selected Permanent Installations:

Selected monographs:

…, edited by Hannah Lewis, with essays by Professor Sandra Klopper, Kathryn Smith, and Sean O’Toole, published by blank projects, 2020

Xenagogue, edited by Anthea Buys, with essays by Brandon LaBelle and Rahma Khazam, published by Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015.

Selected articles in journals:

Webb, James, (2017). “All the Unseen Things,” Reflections on Process in Sound, edited by Iris Garrelfs, edition 5, pp 40 - 58

Selected articles in edited books:

Webb, James, (2010). “Activating and Amplifying,” Site of Sound: Of Architecture and the Ear: Vol 2, edited by Brandon LaBelle and Cládia Martinho, Errant Bodies Press, pp 

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

Selected Group Exhibitions:

Selected Commissions and sound tracks:

Selected Concerts & Performances:

Selected Discography: