BIO
James Mercer is an artist residing and working in Ramea, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Mercer is trained as an artist, designer and educator. He completed undergraduate studies at the Ontario College of Art & Design University (Toronto); NSCAD in Halifax; University of Guelph [BA]; Queen’s University [B.Ed] & Graduate Studies, McArthur Hall - MSTE Group, Queen’s University [MEd] & Communication Studies/OISE/McLuhan Programme for Culture & Technology, University of Toronto [MA abd].
His research involved Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, African, PreColumbian, Oriental and Modernist intersections: where art and design played a central role in aesthetics and constructivist approaches to humanist modes of inquiry. Continental European philosophy; phenomenology, and the emergent role of global media and how it impacts artistic practice and invention across cultures in the digital era, is of special interest. Mercer is both a writer, ecologist, storyteller, art therapist, ethnographer, teacher, and musician.
He has participated in exhibitions and events all over the world since 1978.
His art is in national and international collections.
Languages: French & Spanish
CV
Born in 1959 in Ottawa, Canada
Resides and works in Ramea, Newfoundland, Canada;
and in Mexico City DF (winter studio)
Selected exhibitions
2026 Lovina Modern Art by the Sea, North Lovina, Bali, Indonesia
2025 La Selva - Bonampak, Chiapas Paintings, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Toluca, Mexico
2024 Humanidad en la epoca de Ai, Galeria de Arte, Zamora de Hidalgo, Mexico
2024 Anthropocine Decay, Art Live Gallery, Lovina, Bali
2024 Impressions of the Himalayas, Cafe Kali, New Dheli, India
2024 Mustang Trails, Bhuddist Flags at Annapurna, Bob Marley Cafe, Nepal
2022 Blue waves and abstract figures in the Visayas, Cebu Gallery of Art, PH.
2022 Silk Road Art Festival, Guiyang Cultural Centre, China
2022 Memory of Ancient Characters on rice paper, Guiyang Art Hotel, China
2021 Group Show, Guiyang Centre for Modern Art, Guiyang, China
2020 Group Show, College of New Media and Design, Guiyang, China
2018 Maker Fair presenter, Taipei World Exhibition Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
2018 Group Show, Art & Design Fesitival, Shinyang, China
2017 Maker Fair presenter / Shenzhen TV documentary, What Made Me? New media convergences in art and science in the digital age, SZ, China
2017, Drawings in the Snow, Lhasa Art Gallery Cafe, Lhasa, Tibet
2016 Constructivist Sketches, Australian International School Exhibition Hall, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2015 Art, Science & Robotics: a painter’s electronic eye in Beijing, Tsinghua University, China
2014 Arabesque geometry & sketches from the desert, Abha, Saudi Arabia
2012 Impressions of Africa, Art & Jazz Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2010 Desert Abstractions & Islamic Architecture, Damam Cultural Centre, Saudi Arabia
2009 Recent works on paper, Studio Gallery of Dragon Illic, Brooklyn, NY
2008 Korean Art Show, North York Art Festival, Toronto, Canada
2007 Modern Art in Korea, Gunsan, South Korea
2006 Abstract Islands in the Yellow Sea, Theater for the Arts, Gunsan, South Korea
2004 ArtScience Symposia: media ecology & Marshall McLuhan, ICC - Opera City, Tokyo
2002 Terror in NYC, Gallery of Miniature Art, NYC
2002 Visual Thinking & the Global Village [ppt lecture] ArtSci Inc. CUNY, New York
2001 Art & Digital Media in the 21st Century, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada
1999 Art & Science Convergences in Education, University of Puebla, Mexico
1998 Art & Science in the Global Village, University of Gudalajara, Mexico
1997 Media Ecology & Canada by Design, McLuhan Programme for Culture & Technology, Toronto
1996 Art, Science & Imagination in New Education: Queen’s Symposia, Queen’s University, Canada
1996 Anthropocine Era & the Blind Man, Faculty of Education (Courtyard Installation), Queen’s
1993, Recent Paintings and Mobile Constructions, Gallerie Voltaire, Toronto
1991 Drawings of the Harbour around Balmaine, Balmaine Art Cafe-Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1991 Watercolour Impressions of Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand, Ko Samet Cafe-Gallery, Thailand
1991 Diazo Photograms: Art and Inuit Dreams, Arctic College, Iqaluit, Baffin island, Canada
1989 Constructivist Experiments, Loyola Campus Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal
1988 NeoGeo Art, Gallery of Art & Music, Ottawa
1988 NeoExpressionist Paintings, Goethe Institute, Yorkville, Toronto
1987 Abstract Impressions of South America, Toronto Outdoor Art Show, Canada
1986 Environmental Art Installation & Performance(s), Arboretum Centre, University of Guelph
1985 Juxtapositions, ArtCite Gallery for Contemporary Art, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1985 NeoExpressionist Intaglio Prints, Studio of Mihail Chemiakin, NYC
1985 Steppin to Jangle Reinhart, Interl Music Festival, Toronto
1985 OCAD Art Exhibition, Ontario College of Art, Toronto
1984 NeoExpressionist Paintings, Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca, Santa Domingo, Mexico
1984 Paintings in Mexico, Casa de Cultura, Zocalo, Mexico City DF
1983 Lithographs and Intaglio Prints, OCAD Student Gallery, Ontario College of Art, Toronto
1982 Abstract Drawings, Anna Leowens Gallery, NASCAD, Halifax, NS
1981 Surrealist Paintings, Barington Street Cafe-Gallery, Halifax, NS
1980 Surrealist Metaphyical Drawings on Paper, Yorkville Public Library Gallery, Toronto
1978 Rocky Mountain High: Impressionist Oil Sketches, Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta