"Bay II" by James Hawke is a contemporary coastal painting that transforms a beach scene into a layered composition of figures, water, towels, shadows, and architecture. Flattened forms and carefully balanced color fields create a vibrant image of leisure and public life, where individual moments dissolve into a shared atmosphere. The work explores the tension between intimacy and anonymity, showing the bay as a stage for connection, observation, and escape. It is both a luminous seascape and a meditation on how people gather, move, and belong.
The "Poolside Series" is a project that has dominated James Hawke’s work since 1998. Hawke searched through many thousands of photographs to find the exact right composition and balance of movement for these complex beach and holiday scenes. His work is influenced by twentieth-century travel brochures, questioning the semiotics of "perfection" presented through advertising.While the series began when Hawke was living in London (drawing from urban landscapes) and later Norwich, he now works from the Norfolk Broads and the work is heavily inspired by Ligurian culture and colour from his response to Villa Delle Peschiere in Genoa.The series captures the irony of how leisure imagery adapts to shifting cultural norms while leisure itself remains unchanged for millennia.