There once was a rumble deep inside a small town on the west side of California. That was the day Capt. James Stovall V was born
Capt. James Stovall V was born and raised in Altadena, CA. He is a self-taught artist, husband, father, and former rock-paper-scissors champion. Stovall's interest in art as a kid led him to attend the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where he studied advertising, before transferring to the San Diego campus, where he eventually dropped out to pursue his practice in 2013. Stovall's free-flowing style pushes the joy of making to the forefront as lived experience and history are used as catalysts to disrupt the preciousness of traditional forms. Using line work, written text, and expressive brush strokes to question the difference between a drawing and a painting or a finished or unfinished work.
Currently, Stovall is exploring theatrical sculpture and sound to create environments that live beyond the canvas. He intends to mature his practice as he strives to make the work accessible in contemporary times and "embrace the spirit of change that calls us all to deepen our awareness, to intensify our commitment to art as the practice of freedom" (Bell Hooks, Art on my Mind, page 144).
Stovall has created live performances, mural work , participated in solo and group exhibitions, and completed residencies including NXTHVN, Rokeby Lab at the Rokeby Museum, AB180, and Arts Letters and Numbers.
Statement:
Study long, study wrong.
As a playground philosopher and self-taught artist, my work speaks to a shared and deeply personal experience of growing up in a Black Christian household while dealing with societal and environmental pressures. I construct my chosen subject matter using cartoonish figures and comic book-like context combining mark-making with historical images, religious iconography, and scripture to situate my unique, contemporary narrative in a broader context. Influenced by the improvisation of jazz and sampling of hip-hop music, the satirical wittiness of comedians, the complex simplicity found in nature, the spiritual connection to my family and peace found in where I’m from. These influences factor into informing my current trajectory. Not allowing one medium to define my practice, the work flows seamlessly from larger-than-life murals to intimate doodles, off-the-cuff musings to sculptural instillations and text-based works with cadences that beg to be read aloud. Regardless of the work's form, there is a constant curious tension between the figurative and the abstract, the flat and the unfolding, the whimsical and the grotesque, the primal and the evolved, the child and the man on a journey to find the light within darkness, a unspoken joy.
Current Work
CV:
Capt. James Stovall V.
Nobodiescaptainv@gmail.com
EDUCATION
2016 Art Institute of San Diego, Advertising
2005-2008 Santa Barbra City College, General Studies
2004 Pasadena High School Alumni
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Toy, Pasadena, California
2017 Why, Solo Show, Averill Park, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 RECLMATION, NXTHVN Cohort 4, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
2021 One Night Stand, Oxford, Mississippi
2020 Amplify, Pasadena, California
2020 Breathing While Black, Virtual Show, UMass Connecticut
2019 Art Basel, Miami, Florida
2019 Dia de los Muertos, Ontario Museum of Art and History. Ontario, California
2018 Culminating Residency Exhibition, The Agapolis + Building 180, Portola Valley, California
2018 Dia de los Muertos, Ontario Museum of Art and History. Ontario, California
2017 Inclusion, Ontario Museum of Art and History. Ontario, California.
2016-2017 Group shows and festivals San Diego, California
2016 Play, Pulse- Art Basel, Miami, Florida
COMMISSIONS
2022 Strive for Greatness Mural, Aveson School of Leadership, Altadena, California
2019 Live Performance Malibu Boys and Girls club, “Malibu Chili Cook Off” Malibu, California
2019 Live Performance, “Bold Pas”, Pasadena, California
2019 Mural, Atlassian, Mountain View, California
2019 Mural, Twitch Headquarters, San Francisco, California
2019 Mural, WongDoody, Los Angeles, California
2018 Mural, Memphis, Tennessee
2018 Mural, Leo Events, Memphis, Tennessee
2018 Mural, Hammerhead Brewery San Francisco, California
2018 Mural, City of Jackson, Jackson, Tennessee
2018 Art in the Open Philadelphia, three-day perf ormance painting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2018 Mural JTB furniture. Columbus, Mississippi
2015 Caricature Artist, SeaWorld San Diego, California
ARTICLES
2023 Art Review September Issue
2023 Voyage LA Meet Capt. James Stovall V
2016 artsy.net, Play, Miami Beach
GRANTS/AWARDS (Grants/Fellowships, Awards/Honors, Residencies, etc.)
2022-2023 NXTHVN Fellowship, New Haven, Connecticut
2019 Rokeby Lab at Rokeby Musuem, Burlington, Vermont
2019 Residency, Project 880 Pasadena, California
2018 AB180 Residency hosted by the Agapolis + Building 180 program. Portola Valley, California
2017 Artist in residence- Arts Letters and Numbers. Averill Park, New York
Current Works:
Revelations 16:15
“Self regulates self” -Capt. V