Like many artists, James Ayers’ work took a turn during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seeing the enjoyment his kids took from playing with paint in his studio and exploring their creativity inspired him.

Previously, his paintings were academic. What would happen, he wondered, if he allowed himself to “play”? He dabbled—incorporating crayon and spray paint with his traditional medium of oil paint in his landscapes. It energized him, then it snowballed. After many successful years depicting historical representations of Native American figures, his career took a sudden left turn.

Sonoran Glow, oil on canvas, 60 x 40"

From September 15 through September 24 at Canyon Road Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, Ayers’ new direction will be on full display in a solo exhibition titled Scratching the Surface: A Journey through the Layers.

“The element of play and exploration are first and foremost in these paintings,” Ayers says. “I love the idea of play because it really opens up your mind—it’s where your mind learns the best, it’s where you can explore and experiment.” His experimentation reveals itself in the layers and unconventional tools he’s incorporating into the new work—like crayon.

“Crayon is one of those mediums that you associate with play, that you associate with kids and exploring line and color, so there’s this crayon layer,” Ayers’ explains of his most recent paintings on view in the show. “There’s very traditionally approached oil paint trying to capture the essence of an image, trying to capture it representationally, and then there’s this non-objective element, which is typically a dash of spray paint throughout the piece, which is another element of play.”

A Lullaby’s Hush, oil on canvas, 30 x 40"

Ayers came of age during the ’70s and ’80s, attending the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, intrigued by the burgeoning hip-hop movement coming out of New York City at that time. Critical to the movement was graffiti—spray paint, Jean Michel-Basquiat and Keith Haring.

The Boston native didn’t move west until his mid-20s. As he was determining to become a professional artist, the energy of street art had embedded within him. Only now have those roots revealed themselves in his work.

“I’m taking a very traditional medium which is oil paint, but then applying a more urban medium like spray paint to elevate it or even make it more current,” Ayers explains. “I feel like there’s this opportunity to explore how these layers [work] culturally because we are not monotypes, linear people who just do one thing. I wanted to layer these elements of myself into these paintings. That was a natural way to add those layers of my past and my art life into these paintings—the spray paint, the crayon and the oil paint in one.”

Flow State, oil on canvas, 48 x 60"

Literal layers, but also figurative layers. High and low art. Oil and crayon. Urban and rural. Spray paint and landscapes.

Astute viewers will find commentary in the juxtapositions. “There’s this coalescence of mediums and approaches that aren’t typically used, but there’s a dialogue there,” Ayers says. “Can this inner-city, urban medium be used in this way to enhance this landscape, and say this landscape has this kind of energy to it? I see spray paint as pure energy—this explosive medium compressed. It’s fast and energetic, and I think it adds to the landscape.”

An opening night reception will be held September 15 from 5 to 7 p.m., and the exhibit remains on view through September 24. —

Canyon Road Contemporary Art   622 Canyon Road • Santa Fe, NM 87501 • (505) 983-0433  •  www.canyoncontemporary.com 

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