James Sheehan (artist)


James Sheehan is an artist based out of New York City known for his works in miniature. Sheehan studied art history and fine arts at U.C. Berkeley and completed his MFA at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, and in Rome, Italy. He moved to New York City in 1994.
When working in miniature, Sheehan is intentionally playing with scale, depicting world events and the mundane with equal magnitude. His paintings are often no more than stamp sized and "reconfigure public events in terms of their visual organization." When exhibited, they are frequently set into the wall of the gallery space to create a keyhole effect and magnifying glasses are provided for viewing. Sheehan also produces large scale works, including collage and mixed-media.
Sheehan has been the recipient of many grants, awards and residencies including the New York Foundation for the Arts, ARCUS Residency in Japan, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency in the World Trade Center, the Pollock-Krasner, and Grant. He has presented lectures on his work at the Whitney Museum, National Academy Museum and the 92nd St Y Art Center in New York City. He was in the second to last Lower Manhattan Cultural Council residency at the World Trade Center in 2000 and knew many of they artists who would take residency there the following year. The events of September 11, 2001 had a deeply personal impact on him, which was reflected in his work during his 2001–2002 residency in Japan, where he "explored the power of image as a socio-political assault". The theme was revisited a decade later at the 2012 show at the New York State Museum, "Before the Fall: Remembering the World Trade Center".

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