Rachel Jones (born 1991) is a British visual artist. She has exhibited work in the UK at galleries and institutions including Thaddaeus Ropac, The Sunday Painter and the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

, and has been artist-in-residence at the

Chinati Foundation The Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati is a contemporary art museum located in Marfa, Texas, and based upon the ideas of its founder, artist Donald Judd. Mission The specific intention of Chinati is to preserve and present to the public pe ...

(2019) and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art in (2016). Her work is in collections of The Tate,

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born ...

, the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

, and the Institute of Contemporary Art,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Biography

Rachel Jones was born in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

, East London to a Jamaican mother and a Barbadian father and grew up in

Brentwood, Essex Brentwood is a town in Essex, England, in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt 20 miles (30 km) north-east of Charing Cross and close to the M25 motorway. The population of the built-up area was 55,340 in 2021. Brentwood is a t ...

. She studied at

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

, earning a BA Fine Art degree in 2013, and subsequently an MA in Fine Art from the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

(2019). In a 2021 interview for ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' she was quoted as saying of her time at art school: "I learned a lot about how to interrogate my own thoughts and feelings through my practice, in a way that I hadn't before... I was trying to centre my experience as a Black woman in a space that is predominantly white and, ultimately, not designed for me to thrive." Her work has been described by art critic Louisa Buck as patrolling "a porous line between abstraction and the figurative... rooted in the sheer joy of abstract colour, form and gesture", and Jones explains: "The things that I was most drawn to and moved by as a younger artist, and even as a child, often tended to be by

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

painters. I also responded to things that were abstract in the sense that they were removed from a reality that was day-to-day... you can use colour and shape and form to speak to people in a way that isn't about a spoken language—it's about emotion and inciting feelings that don't have to be explained or expressed. It's responsive, it's instinctive, and a core part of all of us. So for me, it came from a place of being intrigued by these things and understanding them as a base human desire, and wanting to figure out how I could fit within that history and explore my interest in representations of Blackness." Works by Jones are held in collections of The Tate,

, the

, and the Institute of Contemporary Art,

, and she was a participant in the major 2021 exhibition ''Mixing it Up: Painting Today'' at the

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

in London's

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

, where she was one of the youngest artists in the show. As one review noted: "At Hayward Gallery's group exhibition ''Mixing it Up: Painting Today''—a who's who of Britain's emerging painters—you'd have done well not to be stopped in your tracks by the vibrant, sprawling paintings of Rachel Jones. Her monumental, unstretched canvases comprise layered passages of competing oil stick and oil paint, with a tendency towards bold crimson backgrounds, their surfaces overlaid with scumbled gestural patterns in bright colours... she has fast become one of Britain's top younger painters." More recently, her well-received first solo show, held at the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in London, prompted the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' to comment: "The 30-year-old Essex-based artist also has a

Chisenhale Gallery Chisenhale Gallery is a non-profit contemporary art gallery based in London's East End. The gallery occupies the ground level of a former veneer factory on Chisenhale Road, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, near Victoria Park, To ...

show coming around the corner and, ahead of that, this exhibition, SMIIILLLLEEEE, in one of Europe’s biggest commercial galleries. And no wonder there's so much excitement about her: Jones is already a distinctive voice, creating ravishingly colourful works with intriguing subject matter... this is hugely impressive stuff." Caroline Douglas of

Contemporary Art Society The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is an independent charity that champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft for UK museum collections. Since its founding in 1910 the organisation has donated over 10,000 works to museum ...

said: "For her latest London exhibition, Rachel Jones brings not just paintings but words and music references to scaffold her work in the here and now ... The sensual, as well as the symbolic, power of the mouth and teeth have become the way the artist uses to speak about her ethnicity, and her experience of being a Black woman in the world today." Her exhibition at the Chisenhale Gallery, ''say cheeeeese'', ran from 12 March to 12 June 2022. Aurella Yussuf's review in ''

Artsy Artsy, formally known as Art.sy Inc is a New York City based online art brokerage. Its main business is developing and hosting website for numerous galleries as well as selling art for them. It utilizes a search engine and database to draw conne ...

'' states: "If the primary function of Jones’s work is to express the vast spectrum of her emotions, teeth became, for the artist, evocative of so many elements of human existence, such as consumption, laughter, even violence. The mouth is both a figurative and literal opening, an entryway into the physical body—its essential functions and all the unpleasantness that it entails—as well as an avenue for speech and expression. Although not working directly from reference images, Jones's practice is informed by her exposure to visual media, nature, and her lived experiences... the underlying principle is that everyone has a mouth and everyone has a starting point to think about the infinite possibilities that lie within." Jones designed the

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

trophy statuettes for the

2024 Brit Awards The Brit Awards 2024 was the 44th edition of the Brit Awards ceremony presented by British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and was held on Saturday 2 March 2024 at The O2 Arena in London. The ceremony returned to a weekend due to successful viewersh ...

, (a commission that has previously been given to artists and designers such as

David Adjaye Sir David Frank Adjaye (born 22 September 1966) is a Ghanaian-British architect who has designed many notable buildings around the world, including the National Museum of African American History, National Museum of African American History and ...

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

Anish Kapoor Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor (born 12 March 1954) is a British sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor attended the elite all-boys Indian boarding school The Doon School, before moving to the United Ki ...

, and

Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, ''Sky Arts'' ranked her the ...

Exhibitions

* 2014: ''RSA: New Contemporaries 2014'',

, Edinburgh * 2018: ''Rachel Jones: Mad Dogs'', Jupiter Woods, London * 2019: ''Red Shaped Mouths'',

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, United States, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park, at an elevation of 4685 feet. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County. The ci ...

* 2019: New Art Centre, Salisbury, Wiltshire, with

Gillian Ayres Gillian Ayres (3 February 1930 – 11 April 2018) was an English painter. She is best known for abstract painting and printmaking using vibrant colours, which earned her a Turner Prize nomination. Early life and education Gillian Ayres was bo ...

and Nao Matsunaga * 2020: ''Rachel Jones and Nicholas Pope'', The Sunday Painter, London * 2020: ''A Sovereign Mouth'', Gallery 12.26, Dallas, Texas * 2020: ''A Focus on Painting'', Thaddaeus Ropac, London * 2021: ''Mixing it Up: Painting Today'',

, London * 2021: ''SMIIILLLLEEEE'', Thaddaeus Ropac, London * 2022: ''say cheeeeese'', Chisenhale Gallery, London * 2023: ''Rachel Jones a shorn root'', Long Museum, Shanghai * 2024: ''Rachel Jones: !!!!!'', MoAD, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco * 2025: ''Rachel Jones: Dark-Pivot'',

Regen Projects Regen Projects is a contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, California. History Regen Projects was founded in 1989 by Stuart Regen and Shaun Caley Regen at 619 North Almont Drive in West Hollywood, California. Artist Matthew Barney had his ...

, Los Angeles * 2025: ''Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons'',

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...

, London * 2025: ''Rachel Jones: Courtauld Gallery 2025 Commission'', The Courtauld Gallery, London

References

External links

Official website

"Artist Profile: Rachel Jones"

Arts Council Collection The Arts Council Collection is a national loan collection of modern and contemporary British art. It was founded in 1946. The collection continues to acquire works each year. The Arts Council Collection reaches its audience through loans to publ ...

, 20 October 2021. * Amah-Rose Abrams
"Meet Rachel Jones, an Ascendant Painter Whose Jitteringly Electric Paintings Have Captivated Viewers in London and Collectors Worldwide"
''

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...

'', 3 January 2022. * Rachel Campbell-Johnston
"Rachel Jones: the painter who claims she can eat colour"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 8 January 2022. * Gazelle Mba
"Rachel Jones Paints a New Kind of Smile"
''

Frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

'', 8 March 2022.
"at home: Artists in Conversation , Rachel Jones"
YaleBritishArt, 13 July 2022. Via YouTube. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rachel 1991 births Living people 21st-century English women artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools Artists from Essex Artists from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Black British artists BRIT Award trophy designers British contemporary artists English people of Barbadian descent English people of Jamaican descent People from Brentwood, Essex People from Whitechapel