(Born 1994, Harare) James Alexander McKenzie’s work encompasses painting, poetry, performance art, installation, spoken word and theatre. Drawing from an expansive pool of source material that includes personal experiences, his methodology is characterised by intuition and spontaneity. In his avant-garde poetry-plays, which is the prevailing manifestation of his practice, he blends theatre, spoken word, performance art and stand-up comedy. Dry humour; parody; absurdity: these are trademarks of his writing and performance work. McKenzie has been the recipient of several awards and has exhibited his work widely in Scotland. He is featured in several private and public collections. He graduated from Dundee University in 2017 and studied for a period at Goldsmiths University between 2021 and 2022.
McKenzie has exhibited, performed publicly and lead workshops at galleries including the Royal Scottish Academy, the Scottish National Gallery, Embassy Gallery, generatorPROJECTS, Summerhall, Volk Gallery and Orkney’s Pier Arts Centre. The awards he has received include a £5000 bursary from the RSA Residencies for Scotland scheme, the RSA Carnegie Scholarship for painting for his work in 2018’s RSA New Contemporaries and the James Guthrie Orchar Memorial Art Prize from Dundee University. McKenzie’s work is featured in several private and public collections in Scotland, including the Pier Arts Centre, Dundee University and the Royal Scottish Academy.
McKenzie is a founding member of artist collective Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn. Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn consists of James Alexander McKenzie and Daniel O’Dempsey as abiding contributors and includes anyone that the pair collaborate with when operating as Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn. It is a vehicle for experimentation, collaboration and developing ideas within the realms of fine art, performance art, spoken word, poetry, music, and theatre.
Contact
mckenzie_james@hotmail.co.uk
Education
2014-2017: Art and Philosophy BA at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee (graduated with honours first class)
2012-2013: General Foundation at Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
Awards
2021: Department of Art Bursary, Goldsmiths University
2021: Scottish International Educational Trust grant
2019: £5000 awarded from RSA Residencies for Scotland scheme to undertake a residency at the Pier Arts Centre, Orkney to focus on a collaborative project with Daniel O'Dempsey
2018: RSA New Contemporaries Carnegie Scholarship for painting
2017: RSA New Contemporaries 2018 Selected Artist
2017: James Guthrie Orchar Memorial Art Prize, Dundee University
2012: Robert Patterson Pencil Portrait Award, George Watson’s College
Selected Exhibition, Performance and Workshops
2022: Jimmy Mack Follies, avant-garde poetry-play, seven performances, part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Natural Food Kafe, Edinburgh
2022: Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn Act 4, collaborative performance with Daniel O'Dempsey, event accompanies work in Scotland Small? exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2022: (With Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn) Premiere screening of Glen Thomson's documentary film Orcadia: A Fenris and Ragnar Story and Q&A, event accompanies work in Scotland Small? exhibition, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre at The Scottish National Gallery/Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2022: (With Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn) Scotland Small?, new bodies of work from eight artists supported by the RSA Residencies for Scotland programme, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2022: I'll Have Another, live performance at The Grass is Always Greener on the Sa-Lawn opening, Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh
2021: Tides that Bind, Tides that Break, poetry reading at private view, Aberdour
2021: Farewell My Darlings, theatrical poetry reading with visual art backdrop (solo show), St. Margaret's House, Edinburgh
2021: Sum Poems, 50 poetry tape-cassettes, Volk Gallery, Dundee
2021: The Soapworks Residencies, two day mini-residency and live performance with Hidden Door, Edinburgh
2021: Something’s Brewing…, virtual experimental poetry workshop for MFA students of the Royal College of Art, London
2021: Life After Art School, virtual artist talk for students of Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
2020: Nobility Pursuit, solo show at the G16 Exhibition Space, St. Margaret's House, Edinburgh
2020: Live spoken word performance at Lewis Bissett and Jamie Watt's exhibition Beta Blockers exhibition opening party, Forest Café, Edinburgh
2020: Academy Late, live spoken word performance at the launch event for the new RSA Salon membership scheme, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2019-20: Alba down to Nippon, multi-media artwork including theatrical poetry reading, OPEN SSA+VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2019: Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn Act 3, collaborative exhibition with Daniel O'Dempsey, WASPS Studios, Stromness, Orkney
2019: Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn Act 2, collaborative performance with Daniel O'Dempsey and Clair Westrop, Stromness Academy, Orkney
2019: Fenris Wolf and Ragnar Thorfinn Act 1, collaborative performance with Daniel O'Dempsey and Eric Linklater, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney
2019: Experimental Poetry Workshop, part of Piergroup, The Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney
2019: Red Lite Radio, podcast with Daniel O'Dempsey, Orkney
2019: PEPSI 2, group show curated by McKenzie, St. Margaret's House, Edinburgh
2019: Theatrical spoken word performance at Michael Kay Terrence's The Marks to Prove It private view, Summerhall, Edinburgh
2019: JET BABY, theatrical poetry reading, part of Annuale Festival 2019, Heart of Midlothian, Royal Mile, Edinburgh
2019: PEPSI GENESIS, group show curated by McKenzie, Dock Street Studios, Dundee
2019: The Assassination of Dr. Queso Empanada, live theatre at SA-LON SUCKERS,Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh
2019: Round One, poetry reading at private view, The Bridewell Studios, Liverpool
2018-19: CONCORD NUDIST, theatrical storytelling at the SSA 121st Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2018: ECSTASY AB INITIO, unauthorized poetry reading, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
2018: Live Music// Jam Session// Poetry ETC, The George Orwell, Dundee
2018: RSA New Contemporaries, exhibition and live spoken word performance, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2017: RSA Open Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy
2017: Best of Degree Show, Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow
2017: Annual Art, Design & Architecture Degree Show, Duncan and Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee
2017: Trans-Fixed Live Performance Event, generatorPROJECTS, Dundee
2016: ATTRIBUTES, Room 601, Duncan of Jordanstone
2016: Multi Exhibition, Matthew Entrance Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone
2016: Art & Philosophy’s First Social Event 16/17, Matthew Entrance Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone
2015: Culloden Viaduct Exhibition, Culloden Battlefield Centre, Inverness
Publication
2022: Bollock Naked by Dr. Jock Howie, self-published zine, Edinburgh
2021: Grace and Consistency, riso-printed pamphlet with Yalla Riso, published in Dundee and distributed in Edinburgh
2021: Littoral Magazine Issue 3: Spring Equinox, online magazine
2020: All You Can Eat, collaborative zine curated and edited by Alex Weir
2019: Alba down to Nippon, self-published zine, Edinburgh
2019: Polemical Zine Issue 11: Social, online zine, Canada
2019: New River Press Yearbook 2018-19, New River Press, Fitrovia, London
2018: The Celestial Midnight Bar, self-published, Edinburgh
2018: Untitled Poetry Collection, self-published, Dundee
2017: Prose Poems, self-published, Dundee