Jesse Darling’s multi-disciplinary practice considers how bodily subjects are initially formed and continuously reformed through sociopolitical influences. JD draws on his own experience as well as the narratives of history and counter-history. He explores the inherent vulnerability of being a body, and how the inevitable mortality of living things translates to civilizations and structures. Featuring an array of free-floating consumer goods, support devices, liturgical objects, construction materials, fictional characters and mythical symbols, JD’s work recontextualizes manmade objects to reveal their precarity. Simultaneously wounded and liberated shapes outwardly bare their frailty and need for care and healing.
Jesse Darling (b. 1981, Oxford, United Kingdom) lives and works in London and Berlin. He received his MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art at University College, London, and his BA from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Darling was awarded the 2023 Turner Prize for his solo exhibition Enclosures, which was on view at Towner Eastbourne, UK, from September 2023 – April 2024. Darling has also had solo exhibitions at Camden Arts Centre, London; Modern Art Oxford in Oxford; the Tate Britain, London; Galerie Sultana, Paris; Triangle France, Marseille; Chapter NY, New York; and, Arcadia Missa, London. His work was included in the 58th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, and other group exhibitions at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt; The Drawing Center, New York; Chapter NY, New York; Museum MMK für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Swiss Institute, New York; Neu Gallerie, Berlin; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; SALTS, Basel; VITRINE, London; Biennale d’Art Contemporain, Rennes, FRA; and Galerie Sultana, Paris; among others.
![Installation view, Turner Prize 2023, Towner Eastbourne, UK](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/3Tn0Ixd6Kxh4khD46nFdpV/a10d747d305b824d41cfe4565492f257/JD_Turner_Prize_Towner_Eastbourne_8.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![Installation view, <i>No Medals No Ribbons</i>, at Modern Art Oxford 2022](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/1pylapgSk9GsZwvGhJqnzc/bf444cf98ddd2c8f876dc1c57a4fcade/2._Jesse_Darling_installation_view.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![Installation view, <i>No Medals No Ribbons</i>, Modern Art Oxford, GBE](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/7IElLnyj67bxQsHaywO0A1/c9b17bc7c569dbda1f58a6c8e6cb7c5e/JD_MAO_Installation_52.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>O Cowardly Word</i>, 2022<br/>Pencil, paint pen, and vinyl on paper<br/>25 ⅝ x 22 in (65 x 55.88 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/68g18QEvaeRBEUmp7lcdc8/a92c5476ba44352d3464d9a43ccff335/JD_2132_O_Cowardly_Word.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Madonna and Child</i>, 2022<br/>Pencil, paint pen, oil pastel, and vinyl on paper<br/>31 ⅞ x 22 ⅝ in (81 x 57.5 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/1yI9U8KIAj9RDZ75VIRDZu/f7d4f2aa1854f1a4a570f3f38c7f62e0/JD_2133_Madonna_and_Child.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![Installation view, <i>Enclosures</i>, Camden Art Centre, London, GBE](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/7qLgmUvsnPoP9vnqJhTCdq/194a4781c794008d6683d163d7f7079f/JESSE_DARLING_04.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![Installation view, <i>Enclosures</i>, Camden Art Centre, London, GBE](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/5Jn1ER9VvVhIMuZDmk4900/14a7eaa6a2c3f704ed710170ee7392e6/JESSE_DARLING_10.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Covenants I</i>, 2022<br/>Stoneware and porcelain<br/>9 ½ x 6 ¼ x 4 ¾ in (24.13 x 15.88 x 12 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/75nvIf5UVkq1xKRZYCaO8n/d8a00e68f71521f41ce4cdf51132807a/Covenants_I.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>May You Live in Interesting Times, 58th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia</i>, 2019<br/><i>March of the Valedictorians</i>, 2016<br/>Plastic seat, welded seat, etch primer, grosgrain ribbon<br/>Dimensions variable](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/1ATADpncuijeYlSfOlRBsm/8bd09f5458c2423734cfa11fe858e5a3/JD_Venice.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Our lady Batman of the empty center (temporary relief)</i>, 2018<br/>Spray paint and ink on aluminum and wood, paper cup, cemetery flowers, gold leaf, finger sheaths, ECG stickers, band-aid wrappers, perspex<br/>52 ¾ × 25 ⅝ × 10 in (133.99 × 65.09 × 25.40 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/5EVIjDWSwGYdZYWI9Xf89v/041f42c03346a418aac0617074e7c797/6_JD_2018_Our_lady_Batman_of_the_empty_center__2_.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Sphinxes of the gate (Wounded sentry)</i><br/><i>Sphinxes of the gate (Pet sentry)</i>, 2018<br/>Steel, cast jesmonite, archival foam, packing foam, pet watering bottle, rubber tube, plinth, perspex case<br/>2 parts, each: 59 × 43 ¼ × 19 ⅝ in (149.86 × 109.86 × 49.85 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/21igUb4mg6OLqDUisvypos/27d440e236c40e4495dd03de7163c23c/7_JD_2018_Sphinxes_of_the_gate__1_.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>The lion signs “wound”</i>, 2018<br/>Wood, perspex, pen on paper, PLA, electrical wire, finger sheath<br/>36 ⅝ × 30 ⅜ × 10 ⅝ in (93.03 × 77.15 × 26.99 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/4gyN6SbSiBrjYUxldrMbKI/178254d6014c19fcee050b8fa4f6d4ed/8_JD_2018_The_lion_signs_wound.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Untitled (waiting room poster/municipal hospital series)</i>, 2017<br/>Ink on paper, ink on plastic, with aluminum frame<br/>Diptych each: 18 ½ x 13 ¾ x ¾ in (47 × 35 × 2 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/1046kWspxgvUCreaEeievd/7fbb090e3519fd91535312b665a79b84/11_c-30.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Comfort Station</i>, 2017<br/>Steel, aluminum, rubber and lacquer<br/>30 ¾ × 55 ⅛ × 33 ½ in (78 × 140 × 85 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/2iIZBiItasmBmv7SiHSOXA/541636599267a5a0ce388379a025a65f/12_c-35.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Ass Priest</i>, 2017<br/>Welded steel, foam, cast silicon, silk ribbon, jesmonite/acier soudé, mousse, silicone moulé, ruban en soie, résine jesmonite<br/>76 ¾ x 21 ⅝ x 20 ⅞ in (195 x 55 x 53 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/6YFew2jeRuMPYF07FSpZho/0c4d5cb3f99d9d3d7197578b03906564/15_GSul-2017-Jesse-Darling-001.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Bucephalus/Comanche (War Horse)</i>, 2016<br/>Styrofoam, plastic, feathers, aluminum, steel, cotton<br/>59 × 11 × 18 in (149.86 × 27.94 × 45.72 cm)](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/7ydY1wr0JCe3p9nmYpumbt/a8911ff904eb222d3793776f889d73e0/18_JD_Atrophilia_0099.jpg?w=800&q=80)
![<i>Liberty Poles</i>, 2016<br/>Flour bags, foam, ribbon, steel, aluminum<br/>Dimensions variable](http://images.ctfassets.net/my3e36632gpy/7wgmSzrw9Xj3T9JEIygNW0/88448ff03001fc7dc769e2cf63a0b7ab/19_10_28_Atrophilia_0048.jpg?w=800&q=80)