James Mathison

James Mathison, born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1966, is a sculptor based in Madrid, Spain. He renders the male figure with anatomical precision, working in resin and bronze to depict standing nudes, individual portraits and isolated fragments of the human body such as outstretched forearms or clenched fists.

Recalling the weathering of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, Mathison manipulates the texture of his hyperrealistic works, adding cracks, perforations, grid lines and even text to their surfaces so that they take on the appearance of archaeological objects. These fragmented and weathered figures explore memory, identity, resilience and the passage of time, turning the human form into a meditation on the strength found in vulnerability. The work has a silent, introspective quality that speaks of self-exploration and transformation, what he calls the power of dialogue within silence, and in recent exhibitions he has introduced engraved lines of text that appear to emanate from within the figures, suggesting an internal monologue.

His vision is deeply influenced by the great sculptors of history, Michelangelo, Rodin, Degas, Giacometti and Zitman, particularly in their exploration of the human form and the transformation of matter into ideas about humanity, and his work continues that tradition from a contemporary perspective.

Mathison's path was initially unconventional. From 1985 to 1990 he studied law at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas and obtained a law degree. A move to France and England in 1991 and 1992 proved pivotal: he enriched his practice with advanced wax casting techniques at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. In 1993 he established his own studio and foundry in Caracas; he lived and worked in Paris from 2002 to 2004, and in 2018 he relocated to Madrid, where he lives and maintains his workshop.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including in Paris and Austria and at Art Miami and the Ibero-American Art Fair in Caracas, and has appeared at auction at Sotheby's. It is held in museum collections in Venezuela and the United States, including the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, the Museo Ambiental Parque Los Caobos in Caracas and the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Los Angeles, as well as in corporate, private and public collections worldwide.