James Higginson (born April 21, 1957) is an American filmmaker, fine artist, and photographer based in Berlin, Germany. His artworks and films address social issues and expose human frailty.

Early life and education Born James Harold Higginson, Jr in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to James Harold and Louise Betterly Higginson. He is the oldest of 5 children, raised in a suburb of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Higginson received his BS in Marine Biology in 1978 from Pennsylvania State University. He attended night school at Museum of Fine Arts School, Boston, Mass. and attended Art Center College of Design (1982-4). He received his MFA in Studio Art from Claremont Graduate University in 1990.

Career

Marine biologist Higginson was a biologist before becoming a fine artist. He worked as a research assistant for Texas State University at the St. Croix Marine Facility, USVI (1979) and as research technician at Boston University Biology Department (1980-2).

Getting started in art and film He moved to Los Angeles to attend Art Center College of Design (1982) and was hired by a Disney subsidiary to work on a children’s TV show, “Welcome to Pooh Corner” (1984) and then Production Designed the TV show “Dumbo’s Circus”(1986).

In 1988, Higginson was awarded a Daytime Emmy with the creative team, Gary Panter, Ric Heitzman, Wayne White, Jeremy Railton, and Paul Rubens for the Production Design/Art Direction/Set Decoration of the CBS cult classic TV show, Pee-wee's Playhouse (1987-88). He worked as a set decorator for commercial director Joe Pytka and with set decorator Judi Giovanni on the film Sandlot (1993). He worked as the prop master for MADTV (1995-2003).

Art career Higginson’s artworks diverge from painting and sculpture in his early career through performance and photography in mid-career and then into film.

Painting As a painter, Higginson was invited to collaborate with Chinese Master Xie Tien Cheng in 1989 on a body of 30 paintings that combined techniques of Western conceptual art making with elements of traditional Eastern painting. Over the course of the five-week collaboration, the two artists contemporized the subjects, modes, and styles of the T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). as well, they addressed the tumultuous political climate of the current time and the events surrounding the Tiananmen Square Massacre. These paintings were exhibited at the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California in 1993.

Photography Higginson’s photography took focus by the late 1990s. In “Portraits of Violence”, he tackled the issue of domestic violence with life-size, color, staged photographs. Using lectures, panel discussions, tours, and live performances, Higginson then expanded the dialogue between his artwork in the museum and the community. “Portraits of Violence” has been exhibited worldwide in galleries and museums in California, New York, Berlin (C/O Berlin), Budapest, and Cologne. A hardcover book of this photography series, POV:Portraits of Violence, was published in 2004.

Films James Higginson grounded the production companies Avonbiehl (2011-2019) and Allaluce Films (2022-present) in support of film and photographic projects. He has produced, directed, written, and worked as the DOP for

Willful Blindness (2012), an experimental feature, Devout (2017), a feature documentary, and Shuddhi (film, 2023), a docu-hybrid short film.

Teaching Higginson is a guest lecturer, having addressed audiences at the University of Southern California, Otis School of Art, Claremont Graduate University, and Laguna Art Museum in California (USA). He has also addressed audiences at BTK (today UE Germany), FHTW, C/O Berlin, HBG (Germany), FOTO K (Vienna, Austria), University of East London (UK), Fatamorgana (Copenhagen, Denmark) and Pearl Academy, St Pauls College for Women, and Atharva College/Mumbai University (India). Higginson is an Adjunct Faculty currently teaching Photography at SRH-DAB, Berlin.

Organizations

IATSE Local 44 FAR (Foundation for Art Resources) — Board of Directors 1991–1993 Visual Artist Guild — Board of Directors 2000–2003

Awards +AwardYearCategoryWithMovieResultDaytime Emmy Award1987/88Art Direction, Set Decoration, Scenic DesignGary Panter, Ric Heitzman, Wayne White, Jeremy Railton, Paul RubensPee-wee's PlayhouseLA Weekly Award1990Costume DesignA HungerCine Paris Film Festival2023Best Director — Short DocumentaryShuddhiNice International Film Festival2024Best Director — Foreign Language FilmShuddhi

Movies

Willful Blindness (2012) Breaks the boundaries of distant memory and familiar present. Three interwoven narrative threads are reconstituted in an 'unconventional, experimental, kaleidoscopic rollercoaster ride' that becomes this visual experience. "Surreal and shocking, yet oddly meditative, is a stunning journey into personal choice and survival."

Italian Premier: Screened during 55th Venice Biennale, 2013 German Premier: Neuer Deutscher Film Series, Berlin, 2013

+AwardYearCategoryPrizeResultVegas Indie Film Festival!2012Best Editing FeatureSilver PrizeRIFE, Washington DC2012Best Experimental FilmLucerne International Film Festival2012Award of MeritBridge International Film Festival2012Official Selection

Devout (2017) Provides a glimpse into the life of a 22-year-old Georgian Orthodox monk as he contemplates his understanding of faith. The film bears cinematic witness to his internalized struggle as it presents a visual portrait of the monks, their contemporary, ritualistic lives, and the work inside the monasteries. AwardYearCategoryPrizeResultImpact Doc Awards2018Documentary FeatureAward of ExcellenceImpact Doc Awards2018CinematographyAward of ExcellenceImpact Doc Awards2018Original ScoreAward of ExcellenceIndie Fest Awards2018Sound Editing / Sound MixingAward of ExcellenceIndie Fest Awards2018Award of Excellence

Shuddhi (2023) A poetic blend of documentary and auteur cinema, interweaves themes of humanness, fear, love, judgement, and the never-ending cycle of water. SHUDDHI reveals the reality of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) and its enduring stigma, creating a meditative portrait of familial tenderness and cultural respect against the backdrop of India's rivers, landscapes, and a remaining hospital for the disease. AwardYearCategoryPrizeResultCine Paris Film Festival2023Short DocumentaryBest DirectorCine Paris Film Festival2023Best CinematographyIndie Fest Awards2023Special Mention — Short DocAward of ExcellenceIndie Fest Awards2023CinematographyAward of ExcellenceRajasthan International Film Festival, RIFF2024Official Selection: World PremiereRajasthan International Film Festival, RIFF2024Best International Short FilmJaipur International Film Festival, JIFF2024Official SelectionJaipur International Film Festival, JIFF2024Short DocumentarySpecial Mention Jury AwardNice International Film Festival2024Official Selection: European PremiereNice International Film Festival2024Best Foreign Language FilmNice International Film Festival2024Foreign Language FilmBest DirectorNice International Film Festival2024Documentary FilmBest EditingNice International Film Festival2024Science AwardIndie Fest Awards 20242023 Humanitarian Award Outstanding Achievement Madrid International Film Festival 2024Official Selection

Outreach and community engagement Higginson’s interest to serve the community has reached outside the Fine Art World. To utilize the arts as a tool to elevate public awareness of pressing social problems, Higginson established the graphic design company d3G in 1999. d3G created graphics, photography, and artwork for community-focused projects designed to educate, inform, and inspire current and future generations.

During 2000-01, d3G focused on HIV education creating a Safe Sex Campaign in cooperation with the US cities of West Hollywood and Los Angeles and organizations including Aid for AIDS, L.A. Shanti, and the Van Ness House. Media coverage of this campaign extended to Berlin, Germany, with magazine articles discussing the significance of Safe Sex in the gay community. In June 2001, Higginson’s image, entitled Metamorphize, was selected to represent the event commemorating the 20th Anniversary of AIDS in Los Angeles. The d3G tagline, “become someone to admire” branded the citywide, multi-media day of remembrance.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions 1987: Brethern, Eilat Gordin Gallery, Los Angeles, California 1989: The China Paintings, Grand Hall, Guilin, P.R.China. 1990: o.u. being, East Gallery, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California 1992: The Continuation of Life Series, Bevery Hills Library, California 1992: The China Paintings, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California 2000: Shapes & Compositions, MillerDurazo Gallery, Los Angeles, California 2001: Nachdenken/Ponderance, MillerDurazo Gallery, Los Angeles, California 2002: POV: The Story of Shelley, Post, Los Angeles, California 2003: POV: Sacrifice, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York 2003: Portraits of Violence, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany 2005: Recollections, Sala Museale del Baraccano, Bologna, Italy 2005: I LOVE YOU: Portraits Against Violence, Ernst Museum, Budapest, Hungary 2006: Searching Sierra Madre, Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany 2007: I LOVE YOU: Portraits Against Violence, Studio DuMont, Cologne, Germany 2007: Inheritance, Raab Galerie, Berlin 2015: BEHOLD: Perspectives at play in a young man’s mind, Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin, Germany

Selected group exhibitions 1989: Art & Democracy, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, California 1992: FarBazaar, Los Angeles, CA 1993: Sue Spaid Fine Art, Los Angeles, California 1994: Symbolic Garments, Cypress College Gallery, Cypress, California 1999: Scapeland, Post, Los Angeles, California 1999: Big Wave 2, Andrew Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, California 1999: Art & Democracy II, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, California 2001: Post, Los Angeles, California 2002: Post, Los Angeles, California 2002: Gallery Kobo Chika, Tokyo, Japan 2004: Aufruhr der Gefuehle, Kunsthalle Goeppingen, Goeppingen, Germany 2004: Aufruhr der Gefuehle, Museum of Photography, Braunschweig, Germany 2005: DEFENSE: Body and Nobody in Self Protection, UC at Riverside, CA. 2007: Berlin-LA Interface, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, Berlin 2007: Like There is no Tomorrow, Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin 2008: Fotogalerie Wien, Wien, Austria 2008: Tammen Galerie, Berlin 2009: Tammen Galerie, Berlin 2010: Tammen Galerie, Berlin 2010: Europäischer Monat der Fotografie Wien 2010: PIXXELPOINT Video Festival, Gorizia

Selected performances 1988: The Goat Story, Drama Workshop, Sydney, Australia. 1989: The Goat Story, LACE Rough Cuts & UCLA Works in Progress, Los Angeles, CA 1989: John Woodall’s Gim Crack, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA 1990: o.u. being, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA 1990: A HUNGER, igLoo Theater, Los Angeles Festival for Freedom of Expression 1994: o.u. being, Cypress College, Cypress, CA 1998: Lao Niao, Akademie der Kunst, Berlin, Germany 1999: Lao Niao, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, California 2003: Lao Niao: A Walk with Light to Love, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany

References

External links