Jesse Jones announced as recipient of the inaugural Creative Residency Award

From left to right – Renate Ní Uigin, Librarian, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns; Mary Griffin, CEO/Under Treasurer, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns; Iseult Byrne, CEO, Dublin City Council Culture Company; Michael Cush, Barrister; Tracy Geraghty, Project Manager, Dublin City Council Culture Company; artist Jesse Jones; and Aalia Kamal, Head of Engagement, Dublin City Council Culture Company. Photo by Marc O’Sullivan.

The Honorable Society of King’s Inns together with Dublin City Council Culture Company are pleased to announce visual artist Jesse Jones as the recipient of the inaugural Creative Residency Award. 

The 6 month Creative Residency which will commence on 1st September 2019 will support Jones to explore her practice and the theme of art and law, and to develop a new work, with reference to King’s Inns and the extraordinary and historic environment of Henrietta Street, where both organisations are based. 

“This residency is a unique opportunity for us to help develop and strengthen the city’s cultural impact through collaboration, by providing essential resources and support directly to artists working in Dublin.”

Iseult Byrne, CEO, Dublin City Council Culture Company

Jones’ work has a strong connection to law and activism, perhaps most noticeably seen in Tremble Tremble, her representation for Ireland at the 2017 Venice Biennale. In continuation of this interest for the Creative Residency she plans to collaborate with legal advisors, key workers and activists to create a new work.

“The law has always been an important touchstone in my practice from a feminist perspective in relation to justice and our collective values as a society. I hope this residency will allow me to explore this further in my practice, it is a unique opportunity to access to the inner workings of the King’s Inns as a site of learning, archiving of the law and also a community context in and of itself; that is richly connected to the history and practice of the law in Ireland.”

Jesse Jones – artist and recipient of the inaugural Creative Residency

The residency will provide unprecedented access to King’s Inns venue and resources, including the library, park, staff and students as well as offering accommodation, living expenses and and opportunity to share practice and avail of peer learning opportunities. The work developed as part of the residency will be hosted by King’s Inns for public presentation.

“This represents a new adventure for King’s Inns, our members have always made valuable contributions to many aspects of society and we feel it is timely and appropriate to explore how the arts and legal communities can complement each other.”

Mary Griffin – CEO and Under Treasurer, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns

Jones will be supported by an Advisory Group comprising Mary Griffin, Under Treasurer / CEO and Renate Ní Uigín of The Honorable Society of King’s Inns; Michael Cush, Barrister; Iseult Byrne, CEO, Tracy Geraghty, Project Manager and Aalia Kamal, Head of Engagement Dublin City Council Culture Company and David Bolger, Coiscéim Dance Company, in the development and realisation of this new creative work. 

The Creative Residency joint initiative from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns together with Dublin City Council Culture Company.

About the artist:

Jesse Jones is a Dublin–based artist. She studied sculpture at NCAD before completing an MA in visual arts practice at IADT in 2005. She teaches in Fine Art programmes at CIT Crawford College College of Art & Design in Cork, and has worked and exhibited extensively both at home and abroad.

Jones represented Ireland at the Venice Biennial 2017 with her work Tremble Tremblewhich subsequently toured to ICA, Singapore (2017), Project Arts Centre, Dublin (2018), Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh (2018) and will be exhibited at the Guggenheim in Bilbao later this year. 

Her practice crosses the media of film, performance and installation. Often working through collaboratively, she explores how historical instances of communal culture may hold resonance in our current social and political experiences. Jones’ practice is multi–platform, working across film installation, performance and sculpture.