James Hawke: Paradiso
The Palazzo Foundation in partnership with NorthStandard is pleased to present Paradiso – a week-long exhibition by British painter James Hawke, to coincide with Frieze London, 2025.
Following Life in Transit, a significant 4-month presentation at Villa Pallavicino delle Peschiere in Genoa, Italy, the artist returns to London with a refreshed selection of paintings to be shown at the J/M Gallery in Notting Hill.
With his solo presentation at Villa delle Peschiere being ranked as a ‘must-do’ in Europe by Yahoo, Hawke now brings a smaller and refreshed selection of paintings to the J/M Gallery in Notting Hill, London. Having coined the working title ‘Poolside’ when he began the series in 1998, the artist presents an expansive range of works made available for this show in particular, as well as a small amount of works from the Life in Transit show in Genoa.
Taking a particular interest in the analogies of boundaries, borders and human sociological behaviours, Hawke meticulously paints beach scenarios using a combination of flat, fragmented shape and colour. With this method, he creates complex visions of people and objects as visually-represented masses of social activity.
The exhibition’s title Paradiso is inspired by Dante’s La Divina Commedia, an allegory that Hawke revisits regularly for its imagery of paradise, purgatory and hell. On the surface, each scene portrays a moment of peace and relaxed enjoyment but the reality, as in life and Instagram, is more complicated.
“My interest in Dante is related to my greatest passion, Renaissance art. Its complexity of imagery and the humanity is what inspires each painting. The human quest for a perfect world (Paradiso) will always generate its own response in the form of alternatives (purgatory and hell). Within these paintings all these concepts exist, even though the intention is a perfect moment.”
To achieve this, Hawke has developed a painting technique that eliminates texture as much as possible, leaving an almost flat (perfect) surface. With this method, he creates his complex visions of people and objects, each precisely described with just a few patches and shards of colour.
Paradiso runs at the J/M Gallery, London from 15-21 October 2025
Curated by James Marshall
230 Portobello Road, London W11 1LJ
James Hawke: Paradiso
