James Tylor – Bio

James Tylor’s multi-cultural heritage—Aboriginal, Māori and European—is a focus of his artwork, which recognizes the profound impact of colonization and migration. His approach is critical and innovative, often alluding to the erasure of Indigenous cultures. In some cases he uses early photographic techniques, such as daguerreotype, and in other cases, he manipulates new photographs by scratching and tearing them. These processes expand and challenge common perceptions of the role of photography while speaking to the artist’s complex relationship with his spiritual homelands.

Tylor exhibits extensively, presenting solo shows in 2016 at the Embassy of Australia in Berlin, Alaska Projects, Stills Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Photography, and Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia. Recent group exhibitions include TarraWarra Biennial (2016); Over The Fence, UQ Art Museum (2016); The Alchemists, Australian Centre for Photography (2015); Skin Off Our Time, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (2015); Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Visual Arts Festival, Art Gallery of South Australia (2015); and Concrete, Istanbul Biannual, Turkey (2015).

He has been the recipient of numerous accolades and awards, including Finalist in both the Fleurieu Art Prize (2016) and 33^rd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (2016), and Winner of the Macquarie Group Emerging Artist Prize (2013). Tyler’s work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Monash University Museum of Art, Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum, USA, and the Australian Embassy, Washington DC.