Jon Kipps (b.1986, Southend-on-Sea) graduated from the MFA Sculpture at Slade School of Art (Distinction) in 2014. Kipps’ work explores the ways people choose to model and customise their environments and surrounding commodities, particularly objects associated with asserting or diffusing power, restricting behaviour and understanding social hierarchies. Combining diverse influences and source images, his recent sculptures reflect the curiosity involved in design and symbols, visual communication and how we are urged to interpret the objects shaping our surroundings.
Solo Exhibitions include Deep Adaptation, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK (2023); [X], Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, North Yorkshire, UK (2023); Unexpected, Wasserwerk, Bad Schmiedeberg, Germany (2023)
Group Exhibitions include (Upcoming) Pourquoi London, Gertrude & Conopy Collections, London, UK (2024); (Upcoming) Mirror, Mirror, curated by Soheila Sokhanvari and Kristin Hjellegjerde, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2024); (Upcoming) Making Poetry with Solid Objects: Part 2, Komagome SOKO, Tokyo, Japan (2024); 2 For 1, curated by Haze and Thorpe Stavri Hypha Studios, London, UK (2023); Total straw, Parkhouse Street Studios, London, UK (2023); Melt, Hypha Studios x Creative Land Trust, London, UK (2023); The Morrison Foerster Art Prize, The Scalpel, London UK (2022); hf, curated by Ziggy Grudzinskas, Asylum Studios, Suffolk, UK (2022); Sandford Vitrine, Sanford Housing Co-op, London, UK (2021); The Long Goodbye, with Dan Pasteiner, U10 Project Space, Belgrade, Serbia Vegetate, curated by Anna Souter, UK online / postal project (2020); Used for Glue, Studio 2, Staffodshire Street Studios, London, UK (2019); Odds, TOMO Project Space The Royals Shopping Centre, Southend-on-Sea, UK (2019); Kuroko, Index festival, Leeds, UK (2019); Outpost Members Show, selected by Jessica Warboys, Outpost Gallery, Norwich, UK (2019); Ocular Inc, curated by Neena Percy & Lizzy Drury, Thameside Studios, London, UK (2019); Gobbeldygook, Kennsington Residency, London UK (2019); Jon Kipps & Angus McCrum, Assembly Point, London, UK (2019); Fogou with Stuart Bowditch, May Project, London, UK (2018); Ideal Science, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall, UK (2017); Fifteen, Kate MacGarry, London, UK (2017); Arches with Velvet Curtains, with Frank Kent, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2017); Odds, Assemby Point Studio 7, London, UK (2017); TAWI (Tuki Artiste Workshop Internationalle), Dakar Bienalle OFF, Dakar, Senegal (2016); Proscenium Launch, The 10 Bells, London, UK (2016); Unlimited Imprint Issue One, Online publication (2016); FTP and Friends The Old Waterworks, Southend-on-Sea UK (2016); Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Curtain, Blain Sourther, London, UK (2015); Graphics Interchange Format, Focal Point gallery, Southend-on-sea, UK (2015), The Outsider, with Stuart Bowditch, South Kitch at Nová (2015); Jonathan Kipps & Article 25, News of the World, London, UK (2015); Re-launch, UCL Art Museum, London, UK (2015); Jonathan Kipps, Objects Made in Japan, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan (2014); MA / MFA Degree Show 2014, Slade School of Fine art, London, UK (2014); Second Person Looking Out, UCL, Art Museum, London, UK (2014); In the Making, Bonington Gallery, Nottingham, UK (2014).
Highlights and Awards
Jon Kipps was the recipient of the 2021 Residency #2 with Dimitris Ameladiotis, Gonzo Unit, Thessaloniki, Greece and Gobbeldygook Residency, Kennington, London, UK in 2019. Kipps was also shortlisted for the Mark tanner Sculpture Award (selected by Ann Hardy, Sam Throne, Rebecca Scott & Olivia Bax) in 2020; as well as received the Boise Travel Scholarship and was shortlisted for the Adrian Currathers Award in 2014. Jon Kipps’ commissions include a commission of a large outdoor installation with Frank Kent for the West Yard space at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2017); UCL Art Museum Re-Launch: A commission of a large architectural intervention for the newly renovated UCL Art Museum gallery space in London (2015) and Get Cape Wear Cape Fly album artwork commission (released on Cooking Vinyl Records).