Jim Roche

Jim Roche (born 1943) is an American contemporary artist, known for his "outsider art" chronicling Southern culture in sculptures, graphics, and performance art since the 1960s. His work, which often adopts the folk motifs of contemporary Southern culture, has occasioned descriptions as both "standing for the far right" and ... "confront[ing] hypocrisy and social injustice ... aligned [] with the downtrodden, disenfranchised and working class populations."

Life and education Roche graduated from the University of Dallas in 1970, Roche was part of the "Oak Cliff Four", a group of artists from Dallas.

He has been an avid motorcycle racer, and has performed small roles in a number of films—for instance, as a televangelist in "The Silence of the Lambs".

He is married to artist Alexa Kleinbard. In 2023, Roche and Alexa Kleinbard were featured in the group exhibition and accompanying catalog Spirit in the Land, organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and later at the Pérez Art Museum Miami in 2024.

Selected and major works "Potted Mama" - large sculptural works with sexual elements "The Bicentennial Welfare Cadillac" (1976) - A decorated 1950 sedan Co-Curator, with Alexa Kleinbard, Ogden Museum (2011)

Honors National Endowment for the Arts in 1975 and 1982 Florida Arts Council Fellowship in 1980 "Jim Roche: Glory Roads", Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (2010) "The Art Guys" (2014) "Cultural Mechanic", Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans (2015) (curated by Bradley Sumrall ) "Some Americans Feel Like This", Bale Creek Allen Gallery, Austin, Texas (2016)