James Webb

A Series of Personal Questions Addressed to a Boat That Sailed Its Last Journey on the Red Sea

James Webb was born in 1975 in Kimberley, South Africa, and is now based in Stockholm, Sweden. He is known for his use of sound, found objects, and text to create installations and site-specific interventions that often draw on his academic background in religion, theatre, and advertising. Webb places objects, techniques, and forms into new environments in order to examine ideas of communication and belief in today’s world.

He has had solo exhibitions at, most recently, the Art Institute of Chicago, SPACES, Cleveland, Ohio, and Norrtälje Konsthall, Norrtälje, Sweden (2018); Galerie Imane Farès, Paris (2019 and 2016); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK (2016); Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway (2015); blank projects, Cape Town (2020, 2016, and 2014); and CentroCentro, Madrid (2013). Major group exhibitions include the Lyon Biennale (2022 and 2007); Dakar Biennale (2018); Prospect New Orleans Triennial, documenta 14, and Sharjah Biennial (2017); Havana Biennial (2015); Venice Biennale (2013); and Marrakech Biennale (2009). Other notable group shows include What a Wonderful World, MAXXI, Rome (2022); Ways Of Seeing, Arter, Istanbul (2017);Barriers, Wanås Konst, Sweden (2015); Sentences on the Banks…, Darat al Funun, Jordan, andNo Soul for Sale, Tate Modern, London (2010).