James MacKeown was born in London in 1961 but he spent much of his childhood in Ireland. He currently resides in Normandy, near Etretat.

James MacKeown has exhibited in Ireland since the 1970s. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Belfast and Dublin as well as in London, Paris and elsewhere in France.

His work is included in private collections in France, Ireland, Britain, Canada, USA, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China and Hong Kong, and in the public collections of The Contemporary Arts Society of Wales, the National Library of Wales Collection and the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland.