James Neal

Painting and writing allow me to reinterpret normative constructions and imagery of self.

Inspired by an artist I met in Paris I began sketching people in cafés in Antwerp and Berlin in 2018. Upon returning to the US I began working on larger canvases with acrylics and pastels. Recently I completed a 50 portrait series “They”- a 4 x 10 foot patchwork mural which commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Political activism is a firmament in my life and informs my work.

After graduating from college in my native North Carolina and graduate school at the University of Chicago I worked as an investment banker. Then a start-up entrepreneur. Then US politics- the second gay person in US history to run for the US Senate.

I have lectured on contemporary US politics as an adjunct professor- focusing on the corrosive influence of money in politics. I contribute to various print and online journals on political and social issues. News outlets CNBC, NPR, NBC, ABC, FOX, Channel One (Britain) and ORF (Austria) have featured me as a guest.