Selected Artist — Open Call 2026
About
Working from Beanwave, his studio in rural Northamptonshire, James Bristow (b. 1973) is a graphic designer and contemporary British artist. His practice centres on geometric abstraction developed through silkscreen printmaking, where repetition, overlay, and chance operate as structuring forces.
His work has been selected for various group exhibitions in the past three years, including at MK Gallery, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, The Royal Cambrian Academy of Art and New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts; and was selected by Aindrea Emelife for The Discerning Eye 2022.
In 2025 he was awarded a CVAN EM development bursary, and has been shortlisted for the 2026 John Ruskin Prize and 2025 Jackson's Art Prize. Bristow's practice has been featured in the publications Pressing Matters (issue 17) and Uppercase (issue 56). Work has been purchased by private collectors in the UK, Tokyo, Dubai and the United States.
Selected works
Rogue Waves #5, 2023, monoprint on paper, 42×60 cm
WE float on, 2025, screenprint on tulle, 150×170 cm
WE flow IV + V, 2026, screenprint on paper, 100×120 cm each
WE majority-minority I + II, 2024, screenprint on canvas, 70×90 cm each
WE portrait series, 2024–2026, screenprint on paper, 31×43 cm each
Waves #17, 18, 19 & 27, 2022, screenprints on paper, 40×50 cm
WE (Lucius + Zaira), 2024, screenprint on paper, 31×43 cm each
Q & A
Is geometry a constraint or a freedom for you — and has that answer ever changed?
Geometry completely opened up a door for me to be more expressive, free from precision. That might seem like a contradiction, as geometry can be precise; whereas I've taken a deliberately opposite approach, pushing patterns and order to the edge of a breaking point and encouraging imperfection.
Walk us through your process — where does a piece begin, and how do you know it's finished?
I work with a limited palette of patterns and screens, so I tend to begin with materials, thinking about layering, texture, colour and scale. Whether on paper and canvas or experimenting with tulle and chiffon, with every pull of the squeegee I’m looking to capture moments of energy, eschewing design and perfection for a looseness and spontaneity, trying to hit a sweet-spot between order and disintegration. Knowing when to keep pushing, and when a piece is finished comes down to intuition.
What does a viewer miss when they see your work as 'just geometry'?
It was a section of a phrase by the Stoic philosopher Seneca - “we are waves of the same sea” - that inspired me to begin experimenting with geometric wave patterns. I stumbled across this phrase during Covid when it was written on boxes of face masks delivered to Italy by the Chinese company Xiaomi as a token of gratitude. Against a backdrop of increasing inequality and division, I want my work to celebrate unity in difference and present a more joyful and optimistic vision of humanity. Those seven words have continued to inform a recurring theme and motif in my work.
What's the last rule you set for yourself in the work, and did you keep it?
To please myself. "It takes time for people to fall in love with you... but it's inevitable".
Describe a failure or a dead end in your practice — something that didn't work.
I've been wrestling recently with trying to incorporate imagery and weave it in with my motif. This tends to result in a lot more thinking and a lot less spontaneity, which I'm not as excited about. But I haven't given up on this yet.
