Alexander James: Look What The Cat Dragged In

About

Roman Road is thrilled to be starting the new year afresh with an insightful solo exhibition presenting recent works by British artist Alexander James. Featuring unique pieces traversing different mediums, Look What The Cat Dragged In takes visitors on a journey moving between a tangible reality and a digital existence. Through the artist’s varied and vibrant works, preparatory documents and sketches, the display guides viewers through his creative thought process, bringing together elements that inform his continued investigation and questioning of how the increasing digitalisation of the world intertwines and dwells within contemporary identities.

Patching elements of the past, the present and the preempted future, James’ multimedia works in Look What The Cat Dragged In reflectively tell a story about time. Teeming with recycled and timeworn fabrics, each holding their own tales of former eras and wearers, the artist’s works manifest characters and scenarios triggered from his childhood memories, projecting facets of past encounters into present existence. Acting as a diary for the audience, he showcases works on paper documenting his experiences or thoughts, which are later combined and expanded to create the wider narrative of his finished canvases.

James seeks to reveal the impactful subtleties that exist in everyday interactions and the ever-present role digitalisation plays in defining personal identity today. Through his video Lonely Gestures II (2019-2020) and an installation of a reconstructed reality, he highlights how the technological future may extend the way in which we eventually experience life, transporting us into dreamlike scenarios that blur the lines between fantasy and truth. Situating viewers within realms known and unknown, James’ unsettling works gesture a visionary commentary on our relationship with the digital world, and leave us to question and reflect on what human civilisation may be like in time ahead.