Jessie Makinson
Biography
Jessie Makinson crafts intricate, jewel-like scenes that blend historical and folkloric environments with fantastical social portraiture. Her work features androgynous figures embedded in rich social narratives drawn from a vast network of literary and mythological references. The figures, twisting and bending at uncanny angles across unstable grounds, evoke the same sensation of funhouse mirrors, weaving 18th-century brothel scenes, Georgian parlour games, and contemporary eco sci-fi. These layered imaginaries, guided by Makinson’s chameleon storytelling voice, convey scenes of rich sociality.
Jessie Makinson (b. 1985) lives and works in London, where she completed the Drawing Year Postgraduate Program at the Royal Drawing School in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include François Ghebaly, Los Angeles (2023, 2021); Lyles & King, New York (2023, 2021, 2020); Fabian Lang Gallery, Zürich (2019); and Galería OMR, Mexico City (2019). Recent group exhibitions include Simon Lee Gallery, London (2022); British Museum, London (2022); Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2021); Fabian Lang Gallery, Zürich (2021); Lyles & King, New York (2020); Victoria Miro, London (2020); Perrotin, Seoul (2019); T.J. Boulting, London (2018); and Nicodim Gallery, Bucharest (2018).
Jessie Makinson (b. 1985) lives and works in London, where she completed the Drawing Year Postgraduate Program at the Royal Drawing School in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include François Ghebaly, Los Angeles (2023, 2021); Lyles & King, New York (2023, 2021, 2020); Fabian Lang Gallery, Zürich (2019); and Galería OMR, Mexico City (2019). Recent group exhibitions include Simon Lee Gallery, London (2022); British Museum, London (2022); Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2021); Fabian Lang Gallery, Zürich (2021); Lyles & King, New York (2020); Victoria Miro, London (2020); Perrotin, Seoul (2019); T.J. Boulting, London (2018); and Nicodim Gallery, Bucharest (2018).
Works
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Ribs in ribbons, 2023
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Squeezed by the Ghost, 2023
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Popular fluff, 2023
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Tiny pyre, 2023
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The Kings Limpet, 2023
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No one speaks to the snake, 2022
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Thin of tongue, 2022
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We shall be monsters, 2022
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Fine time to be asleep, 2022
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Come you minx, 2022
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I thought evil thoughts all the way, 2022
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Queasy master, 2022
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All the same bubbles, 2022
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I know that bird, 2022
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Purred forward, 2022
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Le Crunch, 2020
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Better Days and Kinder Seas, 2020
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Don’t Bite Anybody Else, 2020
Exhibitions
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Jessie Makinson
Hoof on Bone January 7 - February 4, 2023 2245 E Washington Blvd., Los AngelesFrançois Ghebaly is proud to present Hoof on Bone , London-based artist Jessie Makinson’s newest exhibition at the Los Angeles gallery. From careful expressions and tight, jewel-like patterning to daunting...Read more -
Jessie Makinson
Something Vexes Thee? January 28 - February 27, 2021 2245 E Washington Blvd., Los AngelesFrançois Ghebaly is proud to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by London-based artist Jessie Makinson. Take a royal portrait and gum up the seating arrangements until no one...Read more
Press
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Jessie Makinson’s Kaleidoscopic Paintings Are Brimming With Art Historical Footnotes
Katie White, Artnet, November 17, 2023 -
Modern Mythology
Muse Magazine, January 6, 2023 -
How Jessie Makinson’s carnivalesque paintings “purposely misunderstand historical imagery”
Olivia Hingley, It's Nice That, March 7, 2022 -
Interview: Painter Jessie Makinson On Temper Tantrums & Setting The Scene
Something Curated, March 19, 2021 -
Jessie Makinson’s Otherworldly Paintings Are Filled with Enigmatic Tales
Allyssia Alleyne, Artsy, August 24, 2020 -
Lose Yourself in Jessie Makinson’s Fantastical, Impish Paintings
Emily Steer, Elephant, July 13, 2020 -
Jessie Makinson’s Furry Darkness: a carnivalesque party
Skye Sherwin, The Guardian, June 5, 2020 -
Jessie Makinson’s Fantastical Works Imagine a Posthuman Dreamworld
Gaby Cepeda, Art in America, August 21, 2019 -
Subverting Patriarchal Myths: The Willfully Feminist Work of Jessie Makinson
Maria Zemtsova, Art Maze Mag, July 15, 2019
Inquiry