James Wilkinson

James' work is collaboration between himself and his subjects,

“How much more of a portrait is it, if they leave a part of themselves on the canvas?” he asks.

After leaving school James acquired the position as resident artist at a large advertising agency in Whitechapel where he worked and learnt new commercial techniques. After only a year he attended Chelsea School of Art where he concentrated on the human figure. To support himself James took on freelance work from a number of London art studios.

James changed career entirely for the next ten years choosing a successful career in the city. It was while heading a bond-trading desk at Deutsche Bank that he was offered a 3 month exhibition in London’s Leicester Square. The opening night saw a record number of sales and a celebrity and city-laden party.

Three London exhibitions and some 180 portraits later, James’s work is owned and commissioned by the music glitterati, including the Rolling Stones.

Ronnie Wood owns some of James’s work, which led to Ronnie Wood letting James use his Kensington based Harrington club as a venue for an exhibition and then later inviting him backstage on various Stones concerts across America.

Oasis own and have commissioned paintings as have the Appleton sister’s. James’s work has been featured in Hello magazine in the lounges of Soap stars and is regularly given to Charity to raise money, as shown when Louise Redknapp donated James’s portrait of her, straight from her home to the Tsunami Fund at Capital radio.

James is now working on a number of television projects based on his art and subjects, and will be exhibiting in London later this year.