Alison Jackson (born 15 May 1960) is an English artist,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. Her work explores the theme of

celebrity culture Celebrity culture is a high-volume exposure to celebrities' personal lives on a global scale. It is inherently tied to consumer interests where celebrities transform their fame to become product brands. Whereas a culture can usually be physically ...

. She makes realistic work of celebrities doing things in private using lookalikes.

Education

Alison Jackson attended the

Chelsea College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, prod ...

in London between 1993 and 1997, and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art (Sculpture). From 1997 to 1999, Jackson studied for a MA in

Fine-art photography Fine-art photography is photography created in line with the vision of the photographer as artist, using photography as a medium for creative expression. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message, or an emotion. This stand ...

at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

(RCA) in London.

Career

In 1999, Jackson created black-and-white photographs that appeared to show

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

and

Dodi Al-Fayed Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed (; 15 April 195531 August 1997), commonly known as Dodi Fayed, was an Egyptian film producer and the eldest child of the businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. He was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of W ...

with a

mixed-race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

love child. The photographs, titled ''Mental Images,'' were part of her graduation show at the RCA. She has used lookalikes to create photographs and films of celebrities in private situations. At the RCA, Jackson won a number of awards including The Photographers' Gallery Award and in 2002, her advertising campaign for

Schweppes Schweppes ( , ) is a soft drink brand founded in the Republic of Geneva in 1783 by the German watchmaker and amateur scientist Johann Jacob Schweppe; it is now made, bottled, and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, de ...

drinks won gold and silver awards from '' Campaign'' magazine. Jackson wrote, directed, and co-produced

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's 2003 series ''

Doubletake Alison Jackson (born 15 May 1960) is an English artist, photographer and Filmmaking, filmmaker. Her work explores the theme of celebrity culture. She makes realistic work of celebrities doing things in private using Look-alike, lookalikes. Ed ...

'' with

Tiger Aspect Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fou ...

. The show won an award at the 2002 BAFTAs. She made a series of

mockumentaries A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

and fake biopics for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

about public figures, using

George W Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

lookalikes in a series of staged scenes of their public lives. ''Blaired Vision'', broadcast on 26 June 2007, coincided with Blair's exit from office. Jackson performed a one-woman show, ''Shot to Fame'', in 2018 at

Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...

, and ''Double Fake Show'' in 2019 at Leicester Square Theater''.'' Since 2018, she has served as a

Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Cent ...

councillor for the Chelsea Riverside ward on

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

Art exhibitions

* 1997 Attix Studio Gloucester Road, London, UK * 1999 The Blue Gallery; "Temple of Diana Show" curated by Neal Brown * 1999 The Royal Festival Hall, London; "Articultural Show" * 1999 The Richard Salmon Gallery, London, UK * 2000 Edinburgh Festival * 2000 Art 2000 London * 2000 The Richard Salmon Gallery, London, UK * 2001 Jerwood Space ; "Mental Images", London, UK * 2002 Paris Photo, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France * 2002 The Musee de la Photographie a Charleroi, Brussels, Belgium * 2003 Female Turbulence; AEROPLASTICS Contemporary; Brussels, Belgium * 2003 ICP International Center of Photography, New York * 2003 Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne. * 2003 'Mental Images on War’; The Richard Salmon Gallery, London, UK * 2003 Le Mois de la Photo, Montreal, Canada * 2004 About Face: Photography and the Death of the Portrait; Hayward Gallery; London, UK * 2004 Photo, London, UK * 2004 Election Year 2004; Julie Saul Gallery; New York, U.S.A. * 2005 Superstars; Kunsthalle Wien and BA-CA Kunstforum, Vienna, Austria * 2006 Mak Museum, Vienna, Austria * 2007 Paris Photo, Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK * 2007 Confidential; M+B Gallery; Los Angeles, U.S.A. * 2008 Starstruck: Contemporary Art and the Cult of Celebrity; The New Art Gallery; Walsall, UK * 2008 Bush with Rubik's Cube Intervention Sculpture; Tate Liverpool Biennial, Tate Liverpool, UK * 2008 Seeing is Deceiving; Hamiltons Gallery; London, UK * 2009 J. Sheekey, London, UK * 2010 Rude Britannia: British Comic Art; Tate Britain; London, UK * 2010 Exposed:Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera Since 1870; Tate Modern; London, U.K. * 2011 SF Moma, San Francisco, USA * 2011 The Royal Family; Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London, UK * 2011 Peeping Tom, KunstHalle Amsterdam, Nederlands * 2011 Alison Jackson: Up the Aisle; Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK * 2011 Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera Since 1870; Friedman Gallery, Walker Art Centre; U.S.A. * 2013 Anderson Pertwee and Gold, London, UK * 2013 Fondation D’Entreprise Frances, France * 2014 Centre Pompidou, Paparazzi, Paris, France * 2014 Schon Museum, Frankfurt, Germany * 2015 NRW/Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany * 2016 Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden, Germany * 2016 HG Contemporary, New York, USA * 2016 Culture Station 284, Seoul, South Korea * 2017 London Art Fair, London, UK * 2017 Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel: "AnonymX: The End of the Privacy Era" * 2018, The Royal Academy of Art, 150th Summer Exhibition, London, UK * 2019, Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia * 2019 Truth is Dead Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden * 2019 Fake Truth; Westlicht Museum, Vienna, Austria * 2020 Private; Camera Work, Berlin, Germany * 2020 Soho Revue Gallery, London * 2020-2021 Fake Truth; The Photogallery, Sweden * 2021 Double Take; Coe and Co, Nantucket, Palm Beach * 2021 Truth is Dead; Fotografiska, LA * 2021 True Fictions; Palazzo Magnani, Italy * 2022 IPFO Haus der Fotografie, Switzerland * 2023 The Crown, Grove Gallery, London * 2023 Truth is Dead, NRW Forum, Dusseldorf, Germany * 2023 Paparazzi!, Westlicht, Vienna * 2023 Panoramic Festival at Granollers, Barcelona, Spain * 2024 Truth is Dead, Fotomuseum, Holland

Bibliography

* Private (2004,

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

; ) * Confidential: What you see in this book is not 'real' (2007,

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt Taschen and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Tasch ...

; ) *Up the Aisle, (2011, Quadrille publishing) * Stern Fotographie 70 (2012,

teNeues teNeues (pronounced "teh-noy-es") is a publishing company founded by Dr. Heinz teNeues in Krefeld, Germany, in 1931. It is a third-generation family firm and one of the leading book publishers in the areas of photography, design, lifestyle, and ...

; ) *Private, (2016, published by Alison Jackson)

Television

Jackson has created many TV shows and was the artist and creator behind

2003 series Doubletake, which she created, wrote, directed, and co-produced with

, and for which she won and was nominated for

BAFTAs The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

. * 2001–2003

UK: advertising campaign. Created concept, devised ideas and photographed * 2002 ''Doubletake''. BBC2. Created, directed, wrote special.

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

* 2003 ''Doubletake''.

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

. Created, directed, wrote and produced 6 part series based on ''Mental Images'' * 2003 ''

'' Christmas special * 2004/5 ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

* 2005 Channel 4: ''Not the

Royal Wedding ''Royal Wedding'' is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess ...

'' * 2005 Channel 4: ''The Secret

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

'' * 2006 Channel 4: ''

, Rock Star'' * 2006 Channel 4: ''

Sven Sven is a Scandinavian masculine first name. In Old Norse the meaning was "young man" or "servant" and the original Old Norse spelling was ''sveinn''. Variants such as '' Svend'' are found in Danish and Norwegian. Another variant, '' Svein'' ...

: The Cash, The Coach & his Lovers'' * 2007

: ''Blaired Vision'' * 2008

Through the Keyhole ''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by David Frost, Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter explores celebrities' h ...

guest home owner first broadcast on 28 May * 2009 ITV1: ''The South Bank Show – 'Alison Jackson on Warhol'' * 2010: BBC Historical Series * 2011 & 2012 Sky: ‘The Alison Jackson Review’ * 2012 BBC: Celebrity BitchSlap News * 2015 BBC: ''La Trashiata'' – Opera performed at the Edinburgh Arts Festival

Opera & theatre

* 2015: ''La Trashiata'':

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, BBC Online and

Odeon Cinema Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsid ...

*2015: Edinburgh Festival, La Trashiata Opera *2018-2019: Shot to Fame – at Soho Theatre and Leicester Square Theater with Double Take Show

References

External links

* * *
"An unusual glimpse at celebrity" (TEDGlobal 2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Alison 1970 births Living people 20th-century English women artists 21st-century English women artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art People from Southsea Photographers from Hampshire BAFTA winners (people) Conservative Party (UK) councillors