Bird, Jim

JIM BIRD BIOGRAPHY

Jim Bird (Bloxwich, United Kingdom, 1937 - Altea, Alicante, 2010)

Jim Bird, born in Bloxwich, UK, and trained in graphic design, entered the art scene in the early seventies. His painting, characterized by subtle chromatic gradations, was influenced by op art and inspired by the work of Victor Vasarely.

In 1968, he established his residence in Mallorca, and his prolonged stays in New York led him to establish a deep friendship with the artist Robert Motherwell. Bird, a painter with an integrating vocation, conceived painting as a primary drive, a space of emotion and feeling where there are no antagonisms or instrumental limitations.

The influence of matter informalism and abstract expressionism, especially artists such as Antoni Tàpies, Kenneth Noland and, above all, Robert Motherwell, are evident in his work. The rigor of drawing is a constant in his work, manifesting itself as gesture and calligraphy, with lines of infinite fluidity that seem to escape from the canvas.

In his work, Bird emphasizes every accident, every gradation, as if the crucial thing is to open a gap of light in the unknown darkness of matter. His approach tends to create a chain of visual sensations comparable to the minimal and beautiful poetry of a haiku.

Jim Bird's works are present in various collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castellón, the Madison Museum (UK), Hoechst Corporation (USA), Time-Life Collection (Japan), the Caixa de Balears art gallery "Sa Nostra" (Palma), the auditorium of Sa Màniga (Sant Llorenç, Mallorca), as well as in numerous private collections. His artistic legacy endures as a significant testimony in the world of contemporary art.