Presented in minimalist settings, often before empty monochrome backdrops, these impudent icons jolt us in the way superheroes do. We recognize them immediately without reference to time, place or geography. Framed by our own imaginations, they draw breath through the alchemy of personal projection and the painter’s powerful imagery.
Each Darum painting is gallery-wrapped – stretched around an internal frame – allowing canvas and surroundings to merge seamlessly. The overall impact is three-dimensional. These drovers, sheriffs and cowpokes could step right off the wall.
James Darum’s mischievous world surprises us moment by moment. A master of ambiguous visual perspective, Darum populates his compositions with outsized and out-of-scale elements, searing colors, and oddly out-of-place patterns and objects. And always outlandish mustaches. We know these cowboys, yet the longer we look, the more they startle us. Leaving preconceived notions far behind, we smile.
About the Artist
James Darum has spent more than half a century in Arizona. Born in
Evansville, Indiana, he moved here with his family as a teenager. After
studying commercial art at Northern Arizona University he began his career
as an illustrator. His early explorations in watercolor have way to the
right colors of acrylics, the medium he has preferred ever since.
Darum’s mature sensibility as an artist is reflected in his rare ability
to represent exaggerated, whimsical characters without devolving into
caricature. The outrageous style and sass of his cowboys never undermines
the obvious esteem in which he holds them. His unerring capacity to
reflect what we read into mythic figures renders his creations astute
character studies – about us.
James Darum’s work has found homes around the world from bar rooms to
board rooms. His paintings make their own unique statements in a language
that is universally understood. Clean, crisp and uncluttered, they fit
easily into almost any decorative scheme.