JAMES LEE CHIAHAN

artist, montreal

[jamesleech]

Are we all material—tissues and veins—or is there some nonmaterial substance, some essence, that transcends the corporeal form? "The Mind-Body Question" by Alan Lightman

5x6" acrylic on paper

A quiet little painting for The Atlantic - big thanks to Liz Sanders for having me on this!

[jamesleech]

have a nice day

[jamesleech]

Breaktime (roadside), oil on yupo, 9x5.5" Breaktime (desktop), oil on yupo, 9x5.5"

[jamesleech]

Hunters in the snow (After Bruegel), oil on yupo, 9x5.5" Packing (After Vuillard), oil on yupo, 9x5.5"

Two more from a childhood classic, Home Alone (1990). This movie probably made a whole generation of us think about how to set up our own DIY home defense. I feel like a few of of Kevin's contraptions would have been lethal damage

For the upcoming show "Film School" at Giant Robot in LA, May 31st - curated by @jettpack and Woodrow White

[jamesleech]

Mother and Daughter, Oil on yupo, 9 x 5.5", 2025 Father and Son, Oil on yupo, 9 x 5.5", 2025

From Love Streams (1984). Happy to share that these two will be showing at "Film School", put together by @jettpack and Woodrow White. It will be showing this Saturday, May 31st at Giant Robot in LA!

[jamesleech]

Three paintings for a story about a very costly cancer treatment drug, the unsurprising greed and sociopathy from pharmaceutical execs, and the people affected by it.

For ProPublica - Story by David Armstrong

Shout outs pill smasher Lisa L-W for inviting me on for this one

[jamesleech]

School Oil on panel, 5x7", 2025

[jamesleech]

Nothing swims easy Oil on wood panel, 18x24"

[jamesleech]

Everything swims easy Oil on panel, 24x36", 2025

[jamesleech]

TREE

[jamesleech]

1. Cloud no.5 (sunbather) 2. Cloud no.4 (big wink) 3. Cloud no.3 (lint) About twenty smaller studies and experiments will be available for purchase online this Sunday, including these guys. Stay posted at jlee.ca/mailing_list ⛅

[jamesleech]

James with Paintings and Newspapers by Andrew James Mckay Acrylic with graphite and ink on panel. 2023. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography

Andrew in Good Health Oil on wood panel, 16 x 20 in 2023

James: In 2023, my e-bud @andrewjamesmckay reached out about his forthcoming project, Tête-à-Tête. He explained that he would set out to paint about ten different artists, and they would all paint him. The thought of a space filled with portraits of him and him also being present was very funny to me and also very powerful of him. I couldn’t say no. For working reference, Andrew sent me a photo of him post-optometrist visit, pupils gaping, letting way too much of the world in. I loved learning from this painting and from talking with Andrew, but most of all, I love the painting(s) he’s made of me.

Andrew: In an effort to mitigate the basic ego-maniacal nature of the project, I was interested in also painting the artists who would be doing my portrait(s). Do artists have a special acuity in terms of sight? What impositions or inferences would each include in their portraits of me (and vice versa)? Would it—as James alludes to—look totally mad having them all together at once, all shouting the same image in a variety of dialects? One thinks of the hundreds upon hundreds of portraits of Nicolae Ceaușescu, former Prime Minister of Romania. Despite now being generally unexhibitable owing to his late-rule conduct, they show him in innumerable circumstances and getting up to all kinds of wonderful things; apparently he hated all of them. As for me, I like James and I like the painting he did of me. I think he made something substantial out of what was a disorientating day for me, and it was a pleasure to be able to interpret him in his studio space to say nothing of this venture having provided an opportunity to have a colleague become a friend.

[jamesleech]

montreal balcony no.3 6 x 9 in oil on yupo

one day i hope to also have a room like this neighbour's

[jamesleech]

park sunset over birthday party aftermath 5 x 7 in, oil on yupo 2024

[jamesleech]

montreal balcony no.2 5 x 7 in, oil on yupo 2024

[jamesleech]

montreal balcony no.1 3.5 x 5 in oil on yupo

[jamesleech]

A Warm Evening, Like Many Others 9x62ft Assisted by Kaori Izumiya - This very very long wall sits in the Davies office on the 27th floor at 1501 McGill and was created to live alongside their private art collection, curated by the wonderful Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau

All my gratitude to the great folks at MU and Davies for making this possible and to Kaori Izumiya for also making this possible with her mega skills in painting and joking around.