Jimmy Law is a self-taught artist and painter of expressive portraits and resides in Cape Town, South Africa.
Jimmy’s professional art career started in 2010.
He is specialised in portraiture, figurative work and sculpting.
"- I was born in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State on 26 September 1970. I matriculated in 1989.
In 1990 I enrolled to study a three year Graphic Design Diploma course at the Technicon of the Orange Free State".
"After my studies I was conscripted for National Service in the South African National Defence Force for one year".
"After being discharged from National Service I moved to Cape Town and found work at a printing company in Woodstock. This was my first job. I tried my hand at several endeavours, ranging from clothing design and manufacture to surfboards, but non of them were really successful".
"Staying in Cape Town, I found work as a freelance illustrator and did a lot of work in the comic book industry. All along I was painting in my spare time.
In 2008 I decided to focus entirely on my painting.
The first year was extremely tough, I made no money".
"I also took up airbrushing and started spraying motorcycles of which mostly Harley-Davidsons.
At least some money was coming in and I was surviving.
At this time, I was painting in a photo realistic style and paintings took forever to complete".
"In December 2010 I radically changed the approach to my painting style by using only large brushes which initiated some remarkable changes and effectively started my career as a serious, full time artist.
I focus on creating energetic and expressive portraits and nudes on a fairly large format in oils and acrylics.
Many of my works now adorn the homes and offices of clients around the world".
During the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown of 2020, Jimmy started producing his first astronaut pieces.
These were produced in a far more realistic style, and most were quite conceptual, combining the astronaut with elements of nature like animals.
He suspect that isolation and the vulnerable state that the world found itself in influenced the creation of these works on a subconscious level.
In 2022, he started sculpting and produced his first bronze sculpture based on one of his astronaut paintings.
Working in three dimensions is challenging but also exciting, providing him with a totally different perspective from the two-dimensional paintings he produces.
Jimmy Law è un pittore Sudafricano nato a Bloemfontein, nello Stato Libero di Orange.
Iniziò a lavorare in un'azienda di stampa di abbigliamento e tavole da surf a Woodstock, poi intraprese la carriera di illustratore freelance e lavorò nel settore dei fumetti.
Continuò a dipingere parallelamente, ma fu nel 2008 che decise di dedicarsi completamente alla pittura.
Nel 2010 cambiò radicalmente il suo approccio artistico ed iniziò a dipingere con pennelli larghi.
Infatti, passò dal fotorealismo ad uno stile più energico, concedendosi la precisione dei dettagli per l'elemento più importante dei suoi dipinti, lo sguardo, che risalta nei suoi ritratti, realizzati principalmente ad olio.
Le sue opere sono vendute in tutto il mondo: Stati Uniti, Australia, Francia, Germania, Londra, Cina ecc..
