Oregon Contemporary Artists' Biennial: The
Price of the Ticket
Established in 2010, the Oregon Contemporary Artists’ Biennial is a statewide survey of visual and performing artists who are defining and advancing Oregon’s contemporary art landscape. The Price of the Ticket explores the interconnected themes of place, power, and promise, especially as they relate to our complex relationships with the land, our histories, and our nations.
Self-taught, mixed media writer and illustrator, James Enos was
selected alongside 28 artists from across Oregon to be included in Oregon Contemporary’s 2026 Artists’ Biennial curated by Atlanta GA based curator, writer, and cultural historian TK Smith.
James Enos (b. 1987) is a prolific mixed-media writer and illustrator renowned for his large-scale, self-constructed books that take place within his imaginative world, the "Kid Stuff Universe." Each of his books is a work of art in itself, meticulously designed and executed by James from start to finish. His extraordinary creative process involves binding, researching, writing, and hand-drawing illustrations, many of which extend into fold-out sections, reaching impressive lengths of up to 275 cm. Every story begins as a typewritten manuscript and is then illustrated chronologically, with each page unfolding a new visual and narrative element. James’s books are more than just stories, they are tactile, immersive experiences. His narratives blend personal life experiences with influences from the pop culture of the late 80s and early 90s, picture books adapted from major motion pictures. His stories are full of humor, creativity, and an intuitive grasp of plot structure and syntax, often reflecting a wry, playful take on the world around him. Through his books, James explores a wide range of themes while creating a vast, interconnected universe that captures the wonder and nostalgia of childhood, filtered through his unique artistic lens. One of his most recent projects includes several volumes that are bound together into a single, monumental book, a testament to his commitment to both storytelling and craftsmanship. Through his work, James Enos invites readers into a larger-than-life world that blurs the boundaries between art, literature, and nostalgia, where stories are as much about the experience of creation as they are about the narratives themselves. James is co-represented by Booklyn (Brooklyn NYC).