Jim Condron
Brooklyn and Baltimore
Website
www.jcondron.com
Social Media
Instagram
How would you describe your work?
My work is a hybrid of painting and sculpture—grounded in painting and constructed of things found and collected. I try to make things that are vibrant, funny, memorable, and sometimes confusing.
What inspires you?
I am inspired by generosity, whatever form that takes. A few people, to whom I am close, keep me grounded and help clear space for me to create. On the cliché level, I love sunsets and sunrises that I watch from my house in Baltimore. I also tend to get obsessed with specific albums and short stories for periods of time. Most recently, I have been re-reading Raymond Carver’s short stories and listening to Elliot Smith’s XO.
Can you speak about your process?
I rarely do the same thing twice in the studio. I find that when I know how to do something, I am no longer interested in repeating the process. Of course, inevitably, I repeat myself. And, I have a daily practice of drawing the landscape from my second-floor window. These drawings have gone on for 5 years. Most things I make have a motivation, but I try not to be aware of meaning. Usually work starts with a color sensation that is found in some way, be it a discarded piece of plastic or an image I see in the street. An individual piece usually happens over a long period of time, sometimes years.
How did you become interested in art?
My Mother was an amateur watercolor painter, and taught me when I was young. She gave up painting to raise a family and run a business. Near the end of her life, after she was diagnosed with ALS, she resumed her practice.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?
I find myself always going back to Cezanne. He is tough to love, but so important as an example of someone who followed their path despite not being understood or appreciated by many people. Painting wasn’t about that for him.
I have recently been reconstructing the record collection I had when I was growing up. My first record was Business As Usual by Men At Work, which I re-bought at this great vintage clothing store in Baltimore called Stoked Vintage. I have also been buying albums of artists from my earliest memories. Some of these include Elton John’s Madman Across the Water, The Brothers Johnson’s Light Up the Night, Rickie Lee Jones’ eponymous record, and Joe Jackson’s Look Sharp.
I also like men’s fashion. Of late, I have been buying articles of clothing I had when I was in high school and college. Most recently, I bought a green JCrew roll neck sweater, and a vintage (1980’s) leather bomber jacket from Banana Republic. I worked there when I was 16 and coveted that jacket, which I could not afford at the time.
I am not sure I understand this impulse to purchase things I once had, but I am going with it. Probably trying to deny that I am aging.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I am excited to be making four pieces for a window display at Richard James Saville Rowe, NYC on 57th Street. Their suits are fantastic, a combination of classic elegance with a hint of something slightly edgy in their color, cut and/or design.
