James Moore has exhibited regularly in Auckland and throughout
the country since 1990, while tutoring art for major Auckland art
schools including Auckland University of Technology, Manukau
Institute of Technology, Elam School of Fine Arts and UNITEC. In
2004, Moore graduated with a Master of Fine Arts (with Honours)
from Elam School of Fine Arts. Moore is presently teaching Design
and Professional Studies at Hungry Creek Art and Craft School near
Puhoi.
Moore's work deals largely with themes of 'non-place' -
non-existent locations that exude familiarity; fictional worlds
that bear all the hallmarks and qualities of real places yet none
of the connections that place them firmly in the world as we know
it. Moore's earlier work focussed on illustrating the architectural
interiors of these 'non-places' and his work has since
evolved to the illustration of the 'non-places' of commuting and
the general driving experience. In these later works, Moore
presents the ephemera of the road - signs, place names
and cut-out contours of the land - as ubiquitous emblems
of life in a place that does not exist. By fictionalising aspects
of our own experience and floating these symbols in a neutral,
white field, Moore seeks to present a fully believable
alter-reality in which the constant nature of travelling blurs the
lines between the real and the fictitious.
Moore's works are held in private and public collections
throughout the country and he has been nominated as a finalist in
the prestigious James Wallace Awards five times, most recently
gaining consecutive nominations in 2004 and 2005.