ABOUT THIS PAINTING
This is the first formal work in the Truth Teller Series (I have produced other works that lead to this series) — a new body of work by Washington DC painter James Faris built around a single, unrelenting question: what does it actually look like when someone tells the truth?
Truth Shines Ib the Shadows. The central figure — a grotesque, expressive head with an oversized nose and raw, toothy grin — carries the series' signature symbols: an equal sign beneath the eye, standing for equality, and the Line of Truth emerging from the mouth and Halo over head. The background splits the canvas in two: black on one side, white on the other. Across that divide, two phrases face each other the way the ideas themselves do —
This is not comfortable art. It is honest art.
12 x 16 inches. Acrylic, ink, and watercolor on stretched canvas. Signed by the artist. Ships with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Truth Teller No. 6 is priced at the series launch rate. As the body of work grows and sells, prices will reflect that history.
ABOUT THE TRUTH TELLER SERIES
The Truth Teller is not a character. It is a condition.
James Faris began this series as an investigation into the faces people make — and the faces they hide — when language meets conviction. Each figure in the series carries the similar symbolic grammar: the equal sign, the Line of Truth, the grotesque features that make discomfort visible. Where his auction work captures energy and immediacy, the Truth Teller Series asks harder questions. These paintings are made for people who have something to say and respect the act of saying it.
Each work is individually titled, numbered, and priced as a collectible edition. Once sold, it will not be reproduced.
WHY COLLECT FARIS
Since November 2025, James Faris has sold over 300 original paintings with a 100% buyer satisfaction record. His collectors span first-time art buyers and seasoned collectors — many have returned for multiple works. His Neo-Expressionist style, grounded in American myth, urban energy, and raw mark-making, places him in a lineage that includes Basquiat, Dubuffet, and early Twombly — though his voice is entirely his own.
The Truth Teller Series represents his most symbolically focused and socially engaged work to date.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
ARTIST STATEMENT — TRUTH TELLER SERIES
I've been making these faces for a while now — big noses, too many teeth, eyes that have seen something they can't unsay. I call them Truth Tellers because that's what they are. Not pretty. Not polite. But present.
The equal sign under the eye came first. It was instinct — a mark that meant something without needing to explain itself. The Line of Truth from the mouth came next. And then I realized these weren't just figures. They were witnesses.
Truth vs. Honesty is the piece that made this a series. I was thinking about how we use those two words as if they're the same thing — and they're not. You can tell the truth without being honest. You can be completely sincere and completely wrong. The black and white background isn't about good and evil. It's about how we split things that refuse to be split.
I work in mixed media because truth rarely arrives clean. Acrylic for the structure. Ink for the line that means it. Watercolor for everything that bleeds through anyway.
eBay Store: Faris Art Studio
Custom Framing available for $85.