Exhibitions
2017 Collective Design Fair, New York
2017 Cristina Grajales Gallery, "Exhibitionist Group Show", New York
2016 Cristina Grajales Gallery, "Spring Group Show", New York
2015 Leslie Lohman Museum, "Interface", New York
2015 FOG Design + Art Fair, San Francisco
2014 Design Miami
2014 Design Miami/Basel, Switzerland
2014 Collective Design Fair, New York
2014 FOG Design + Art Fair, San Francisco
2013 Design Miami
2013 Expo Chicago
2013 Design Miami/Basel, Switzerland
2013 Collective Design Fair, New York
2013 Cristina Grajales Gallery, "Winter Group Exhibition", New York
2012 Portal + Gallery, Perth Australia
2012 Cristina Grajales Gallery, "Pegasus", New York
2012 Design Miami
2012 Cristina Grajales Gallery, "New York, New York", New York
2011 Design Miami
2011 Pavilion of Art and Design, New York
2011 Comme des Garcons Trading Museum, Tokyo
2011 Comme des Garcons Trading Museum, Paris
2011 Dover Street Market, London
James Salaiz is a ceramic artist based in New York City. In 2011, his work was introduced to the avant- garde Japanese designer, Rei Kawakubo who invited James to exhibit his sculptures at Comme des Garcons' Trading Museums in Paris and Tokyo and at her London design outpost, Dover Street Market. New York gallerist Cristina Grajales discovered James’s work at the London exhibition and has represented him and exhibited his work worldwide for 5 years.
James first experienced clay as a young child in San Antonio, Texas. Here he took ceramic classes and was immediately drawn to the material’s malleability, elasticity and ability to take on any form. This early obsession eventually led James to the ceramic program at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
There he spent 4 years mastering his craft and learning how to make clay, mix his own glazes, and build raku and fire salt kilns. He also experimented with thrown and hand-built forms and graduated with honors from Cornell College with a Bachelor's of Special Studies in ceramics and photography. He worked for ceramic artists in Boulder, Colorado and San Francisco and in 2002 moved to New York. There he found work in the studio of iconic potter Jonathan Adler.
James's work work spans thrown forms (the “Bullet” series), figurative realism (the “Horned Owl”), and abstract minimalism (“Architectural landscapes” and "The Colony".)