James Owens – Feature News – Art Show With Traci Lords Painting

America’s foremost neo-noir painter, James Owens, recently painted Traci Lords, among other celebrity classy chicks and dapper dudes, for his upcoming art show.

In the spirit of vintage pulp cover artists as well as pin up artists like Gil Elvgren and George Petty, James Owens creates works that are edgy and sexy. Studio works presented in the exhibition highlight the dark and dangerous inhabitants of a noir world as well as the beauty of the female form.

Check out the video below of him talking about the painting…



I posed some questions to James about his art and the show.  Here is the interview…

*You’ve got an upcoming show featuring paintings of some really great people. What makes you decide who would make a great Noir painting?

I like to find people that have vintage vibe to them. My upcoming show has Traci Lords as one of the models. Now she looks like she just walked out of the 1940s. Magnificently beautiful with a Veronica Lake vibe.

*How long does it take you to work on a painting? What does the process usually involve?

You know, the hardest part is coming up with a good idea. Sometimes you start with a little snippet of an idea that takes a while to germinate but then one day I’m sketching thumbnails and BINGO things fall into place. Then it is a matter of contacting and shooting a model or models and finding the proper reference material. All the time this is going on I am solving problems in my head. Problems of color, composition, what media and techniques will work best to tell my story. Some pieces almost leap onto the canvas and some take a bit of struggle. That is the joy of creating, you never know what happy accidents will happen.

*Who do you hope to see at your art show?

EVERYONE! Ha. No really I would love to see people that have an affinity for the genre that I work in; people that like pulp novels art, hot rods and pin up art.


Here’s the info about the Art Show:

Gasoline Gallery Presents : James Owens : SAVAGE BEAUTY – Original Paintings Of Elegance And Brutality

Exhibition Dates: April 10, 2010 – May 1, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday April 10, 2010 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm

For this solo show James has assembled an all-star cast of models featuring celebrities

– Traci Lords (Cry Baby, Zack And Miri)
– Ross McCall (Band Of Brothers, Crash)
– Paul Dooley (Breaking Away, Sixteen Candles, HairSpray)
– Sean Patrick Flanery (Young Indiana Jones)
– Paul J Alessi (Knuckle Draggers)
– Amie Barsky (Knuckle Draggers)
– and others!

GASOLINE
423 Main St.
El Segundo
CA, 90245
310-416-9188

www.gasolinegallery.com | www.car-noir.com