Jessie Makinson
Silky trap
All bids
| Year | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Medium | Pencil on paper |
| Dimensions | 28.5 x 19 cm |
About the work
The figures through the window are based on images of Georgian parlour games. Obviously far removed from its source, I liked the power play and threatening yet playful arrangements of figures. The figures are both charming and charmed, playing silly games both creepy, prim and sensual. By removing the men or making the figures anthropomorphic or more fluid, I hope to shift the play of power.
About the artist:
Born 1985 London, Jessie Makinson lives and works in London. Graduated from Foundation, Camberwell College of Art, London (2004); Drawing and Painting, Edinburgh College of Art (2007); The Drawing Year Postgraduate Program, The Royal Drawing School (2013); and Turps Banana Studio Program, London (2016).
Makinson’s work is darkly erotic and draws from influences including Ursula Le Guin, British folklore, 17th and 18th-century erotica, Flemish kitchen scenes, science fiction, and early Renaissance altarpieces. She readdresses a patriarchal past from a female perspective. Plucking themes and narratives from historical precedent, she creates a bold new context for the motifs she selects. Vivid colours describe tense, erotic scenes in which women are dangerous active participants, not passive permission givers. Makinson’s characters practice rituals, they embrace, plot, and conspire. They hold sexual power and disrupt expectations, inhabiting a universe that surprises, delights, and tests its audience.
Selected solo exhibitions include Francois Ghebaly, Los Angeles (2021); Lyles & King, New York (2021); Dangerous Pleasing, Lyles and King, New York (2020); Nobody Axed You To, Fabian Lang, Zurich (2019); Tender Trick, Galería OMR, Mexico City (2019); Jessie Makinson & Stuart Lorimer, Lyles & King, New York (2018); and Fancy, 9b Projects, London (2015). Selected group exhibitions include I WANT TO FEEL ALIVE AGAIN, Lyles & King, New York (2020); Der abscheuliche kuss, Kunstverein Dresden (2020); I See You, Victoria Miro Gallery, London (2020); The Self, the Work, the World, Fabian Lang, Zurich (2019); No Patience for Monuments, Perrotin, Seoul (2019); Hyper Mesh, Assembly Point, London (2019); In the Company Of, T.J. Boulting, London (2018); and Year One, Frestonian Gallery, London (2018).
