About
“Who am I? I am the man I always wanted to be.”
-James E. Dupree
James Dupree has been a practicing artist in the city of Philadelphia for over five decades. With exhibitions and residencies of national and international scope, Dupree has created a legacy within the world of Fine Arts and Culture. His mediums include but are not limited to paint, mixed media, and sculpture.
With 35 different series of work reflecting the life of a contemporary African American Artist, Dupree’s art treads the line between politics, culture, and fine art. What lies beyond the viewer’s initial aesthetic impression, are poignant messages on race and class. As a master of his craft, the intentionality behind his work is supported by the intersection of his expression of color, form, and unparalleled technique. Paired with Dupree’s ardent activism as a stronghold within the Philadelphia community for the last forty years, this artist and agitator carefully impacts all which he touches.
Dupree holds a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, and has attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. After which, he went on to teach at Arts Centers and Fine Arts Schools, including Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, University of Pennsylvania, and Crewe and Alsager College in England.
Currently, James Dupree owns and operates two Contemporary Fine Art galleries. Dupree Gallery Philadelphia, which has been open since the 1980’s, is located at 703 South 6th Street in Philadelphia, The newest gallery location is located in the vibrant small town of Lambertville New Jersey at 10 North Union Street. Both locations host a variety of solo and group exhibitions of artwork crafted by renowned national and international contemporary artists.
Education
1974-1977 MFA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
1973-1974 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1973 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York, NY
1968-1972 BFA, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH
Exhibitions
2023 Cosmopolitan Club Philadelphia, ‘Stained Glass Series’, solo show, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Lambertville Public Library, ‘Dragonfly Series’, solo show, Lambertville, NJ
2023 The Story Factory Art Space, ‘Chameleon’, group show, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Trenton Museum, Ellarslie Open, juried show, prize winning, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Dupree Gallery, ‘Our His-Story Month’, Group Show, Lambertville, NJ
2022 PAFA Fellowship Exhibition, juried show, Philadelphia, PA
2022 Dupree Gallery, ‘Columbus College of Art and Design’, group show, Lambertville, NJ
2022 Dupree Gallery, ‘Dumpster Divers: 50 Years’, group show, Philadelphia, PA
2021 National Gallery of Bermuda, ‘Bermuda Series’, solo show, Bermuda
2020 My Eyes Art Gallery, group show, New Hope, PA
2019 Spiral Q Gallery, ‘Totems’, solo show, Philadelphia, PA
2018 University City Science Center, ‘Manatee Series’, solo show, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Democratic National Convention and University of Pennsylvania Alumni Assn., solo show, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Portland Airport, ‘Mixed Media Paintings’, solo show, Portland, OR
2011 Wynwood Lofts Gallery, group show, Miami, FL
2011 Projects Gallery, Art Basel ‘Red Dot Exhibition’, group show, Miami, FL
2011 Kimmel Center, ‘Music and Visual Art’, solo show, Philadelphia, PA
2010-2011 Nexus Foundation for Today's Art, group show, Philadelphia, PA
2010-2011 The African American Museum, ‘Artful Intentions’, group show, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Philadelphia Airport, Terminal E, ‘Evolving Elements’, solo installation, Philadelphia, PA
2009 University of the Arts, faculty exhibition, Philadelphia, PA
2009 University of Pennsylvania, Dubois Gallery, solo show, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, ‘3x10, Three Works x Ten Artists’, group show, Charlottesville, VA
1999 Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Community Museum, Locating the Spirit in African American Art, group show, Washington, DC
Awards, Grants, Fellowships, Commissions, Residencies
2020-2022 Artist-in-Resident, Fitler Club, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Commission, City Hall Court Yard, ‘Ralphstravaganza’, Installation and performance with
Raphael Xavier and Cirque du Soleil, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Grant, Bloomberg Foundation, Dupree Studios in Mantua Summer Internship program,
Philadelphia PA
2011 Grant, Fleisher Art Memorial/William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Commission, David Haas, William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Award, ‘Living Legend’ University of Pennsylvania Alumni Assn., Philadelphia, PA
2010 Award, Philadelphia Airport, Terminal E, ‘Evolving Elements’, solo installation, Philadelphia, PA
2008 Award, "Totems" installation purchase, Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Award, Mummers Fancy Brigade, 1st Place Set Design, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Grant, Fleisher Art Memorial Faculty Grant, Philadelphia, PA
2003 Commission, Philadelphia Library Main Building, Indoor Mural, Philadelphia, PA
2002 Commission, Tower Records, Installation, Opreyville Mall, Nashville, TN
2000 Fellowship, Independence Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
1999 Commission, Tower Records Mural Project, Broad and Chestnut, Philadelphia, PA
1997 Seagram's Award, Artist-in-Residence, African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1995 Award, Philadelphia Museum of Art Purchase Award, Philadelphia, PA
1992 Commission, Mother Bethel Church Mural Project, Philadelphia, PA
1991 Fellowship, Pioneer Arts Organization, Guest Artist, Cardiff, Wales, UK
1989 Artist-in-Residence, National Museum, Cardiff, Wales, UK
1988 Artist-in-Residence, Brandywine Graphics Studio, Philadelphia, PA
1988 Fellowship Grant, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1983 Fellowship Grant, Artist-in-Residence, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
Public Collections, Partial List
African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
Cheyney University, Glen Mills, PA
Columbus Museum of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH
Hammonds House Museum, Atlanta GA
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Petrucci Family Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Kunsthal Charlottenborg Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Schomberg Center for Arts, New York, NY
Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Private Collections, Partial List
Feather Huston, Philadelphia, PA
David Haas, Philadelphia, PA
Leroy Moore, Charlottesville, VA
Patti LaBelle, Philadelphia, PA
Dr.Edwin Harri, Medford, NJ
Johnny Butler, Esquire, Philadelphia, PA