Meredith James
December 2, 2025
The charming artist Meredith James joins the Selection Committee Radio Show to discuss her current show “The Exit” at Marinaro Gallery in New York through December 13, 2025.
In 2019, James became intrigued by a building near her home in TriBeCa. After some finagling she managed to get inside and take some pictures of an abandoned office space—designed for efficiency with low cubicles and drop ceilings—which eventually led to the work in “The Exit.” Depicted in each of the four photographs in the exhibition is a mirror, and reflected in each of the mirrors is another mirror. James then translated the resulting mesh of nested spaces into four exquisitely produced dioramas which represent the reflected images in a fractured, uncanny three dimensions. Each one is a kind of ontological puzzle box, with the viewer trying to piece together the logic of the space and missing, like a vampire, her own reflection.
James’ focus on the relationship between image, space, and experience is evident in her earlier work as well. Day Shift, 2009, features a security guard who watches a closed-circuit monitor of what looks like the same office she is sitting in. She leaves the office and walks through whatever space the work is shown in (James reshoots this part of the video every time the work is shown in a new place) and goes out to her truck—where she climbs through the back window into a miniaturized version of the office space. The video is then displayed on the closed-circuit monitor in the miniaturized office space installed in the gallery, retranslating the logic of cinema and dreams back into the real world.
Her work often incorporates these kinds of practical effects as well as optical illusions that push questions of scale and perspective, and she insistently uses only analog effects. We discuss many more of James’ pieces, including her large-scale public sculptures, and what it means for people to interact with her work, particularly people outside the art world.
James is a sculptor at heart, and we talk about her belief from childhood that objects can carry with them not only the history of their use and the lives they have touched, but also past time itself. In that sense her work doesn’t just create visual and conceptual loops, but time loops as well.
Inspired by sources as varied as Maya Deren, Chantal Ackerman, walks around the city, and the cartoon Adventure Time, James’ work always contains a sincere meditation on the time and space of living. Along with a playlist of very personal songs, Meredith brings an illuminating conversation about her kaleidoscopic point of view.
- Seven Days: Tuesday Afternoon, Gregory Spears, Pedja Muzijevic, 2025
- Rain, The Clientele, 2000
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(I Can’t Seem to) Make You Mine, The Clientele, 2005
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Place To Be, Nick Drake, 1972
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The Devil Is Loose, Asha Puthli, 1976
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I'll Be Your Mirror, The Velvet Underground, 1967
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Pillow Talk, Sylvia, 1996
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Hey Cowboy, Lee Hazelwood & Nina Lizell, 1970
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Happy New Year, Camera Obscura, 2001
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By the Sea, Wendy & Bonnie, 1969
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Time Adventure (feat. Olivia Olson, Niki Yang & Hynden Walch), Adventure Time, 2018
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Waving to You (feat. Rebecca Sugar), Adventure Time, 2018
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Source Decay, The Mountain Goats, 2002
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Another Girl Another Planet, The Only Ones, 2006
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Granny, Vic Chesnutt, 2009
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Charlie Zink, Bob Martin, 1972
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Chelsea Hotel #2, Leonard Cohen, 2002
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Every You Every Me, Placebo, 1998
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Where Is My Mind?, Pixies, 1988
- Clouds, Hiroshi Yoshimura, 2017
Meredith James completed her AB at Harvard University and her MFA at Yale University. She had a museum exhibition at the Queens Museum, NY and has had solo shows at Jack Hanley Gallery, NY; LaMontange Gallery, Boston; and Marc Jancou, NY. She has installed major public art projects at Socrates Sculpture Park, NY; The Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston; and Lieu Histrorique National Center-Brébeuf, Quebec City.