My intention is to concretize the range of everything (as I understand the
term) by condensing and impacting the interpretation of a singular image
into a visceral, slowed-down process. I believe only painting can provide this sense of distillation; to seek the collective socio-political stage we
construct as an indulgence of such vagaries, and destroy them.
The United States of America is a portrait of Christopher Reeves from a
photograph made shortly after his accident which left him a paraplegic.
His efforts to heal and become normal again are valued, yearned for, and
maniacally sought after, but these goals are rather sadly unrealistic. Since the accident, considerable funds have gone into the science of stem cell research, robotics, and drugs to realize this possibility — to see Christopher Reeves walk again — to see him become the Superman we all believe he is inside. Like the Statue of Liberty, Christopher Reeves is the character of hope, self-determination as a people, the baby-boomer
generation’s sanctified hero, the emblem of determination to persist
despite the odds. This painting shows the Christ-like Chris looking up at his son who embraces his head with his little hands. During these moments of crisis in our political state here in the U.S., we desperately wait for a
resolving factor to overcome this disease of ignorance, self-interest,
and strength.
— James Sheehan

Selected solo exhibitions: 2002: Schedler, Zurich; 2000: Schedler, Zurich; Joseph Rickards, New York; 1999: M du B, F, H, & g, Montreal; 1998: Ahra Lee, New York.
Selected solo exhibitions: 2003: Haus der Kunst, Munich; Ameri©an Dre@m, Ronald Feldman, New York; Water Water, The Rotunda, New York; 2002: Painting as Paradox, Artists Space, New York; Artists to Artists, ACE, New York; 2001: Everybody Now, Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf, New York; 2000: The Figure: Another Side of Modernism, The Snug Harbor Cultural Center, New York.