Room 319
Artist
Douglas James
(American, born 1945)
Date1975
MediumPaint on cardboard construction
Dimensions25 × 14 1/2 × 12 1/2 in. (63.5 × 36.8 × 31.8 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of James Pearson Duffy, 2008
Object numberUAC3666
DescriptionIn 1975 Detroit as Cass Corridor artist, Douglas James, traveled to the Allerton Hotel in New York City where he constructed small autobiographical cardboard sculptures. Here, Room 319, is reconstructed, in his own words, faithfully, and covered in resin. Art collector and patron James Duffy purchased the piece alongside another cardboard construction of a hot plate.James attended Wayne State University (BFA 1967) and worked out of a studio on Warren Avenue in the Cass Corridor until 1967. He studied at Yale (MFA 1970) before returning to Detroit in 1970 where he held a studio practice in Old Convention Hall on Cass Avenue (former home of the Detroit Auto Show.) James moved to New York in 1976 where he took up work as a carpenter. Perhaps his close knowledge of tools further drove his interest in still life and object assemblage. In 1979 he exhibited monumentally scaled carpenters tools covered in dayglo paint.
In recent years James has turned to painting large-scale, luminous watercolors. To see his work and learn more visit douglasjamespaintings.com.
Text by Audrey Zofchak
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