Jakob Rowlinson

Overview
Courtesy of Jakob Rowlinson
Courtesy of Huxley Parlour and Jakob Rowlinson
Jakob Rowlinson intertwines the natural world with medieval symbolism, questioning the bounds of masculinity throughout time.
Jakob Rowlinson (b.1990, Norwich, UK) lives and works in London. He received an MA in Sculpture from the RCA in 2017 and completed a BFA from the Ruskin School of Art in 2013. Using textiles and sculpture, his work centres around collage and the amalgamation of sometimes conflicting medieval symbols.
 
Rowlinson frequently draws upon his rural upbringing by referencing the so-called ‘Green Man’ a sculpted figure commonly found in Norfolk churches and on the hanging signs outside local pubs. This nature-dwelling character has become a recurring motif in his practice, where its ambiguous features and hybrid non-human face become a metaphor for queerness and ecological concerns. 
 
Before creating his work, Rowlinson employs an array of ritualistic and historical techniques to alter the texture and colour of his materials: he applies stains created from oak galls foraged from Hampstead Heath, as well as dipping them in dyes made from plants scavenged outside his studio. These processes lend a unique palate to his work and imbue it with a symbolic sense of renewal and healing. This wholesomeness is undercut, however, by multiple piercings, steel rings, and sturdy leather straps, often added as decoration or adornment to the finished work. Their playful, teasing addition hints towards a more contemporary form of queerness. One that revels in quasi-erotic excesses and asks its audience to look a little closer. 
 
Works
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Guts Exhibitions 
Press
CV
Courtesy of Ally Rosenberg
Courtesy of Ally Rosenberg

b. 1990, lives and works in London

 

Education
2017 MA (Sculpture) | Royal College of Art
2013 BFA (Hons) Fine Art | Ruskin School of Art

Solo Exhibitions
2023 Faerie Land, The Dowse Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
2022 Group A, OOF gallery, Tottenham London, UK
2021 Visions of a Whispered Past, Quench Gallery, Margate, UK
2019 Made in Sweden, Tändsticksmuseet, Jönköping, Sweden
2017 Dissecting the Archive, clearview.ltd, London, UK.


Selected Group Exhibition
2023 Saints and Sinners, Guts Gallery, London, UK

2023 Illuminations, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2023 Saints & Sinners, Guts Gallery, London, UK
2022 Mythologies II, Huxley Parlour Gallery, Swallow Street, London, UK
2022 MacArthur Park, Cromwell Place, London, UK
2022 The Worm at the Core, SET Woolwich, London, UK
2022 A Paradise for a Smiling Crocodile, Capriola Art Festival, Lecce, Italy
2022 Show Stopper, Delphian Gallery, London, UK
2022 6th Edition, Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, UK
2022 Amber Room, Reference Point Library, London, UK
2022 Ecarlate, 10 Crossley Street, London, UK
2021 Under Your Spell, Collective Ending HQ, London, UK
2021 Dreamlands II, OHSH, London, UK
2021 The Artist’s Oracle, The White Crypt Gallery, London, UK
2021 Peach Fuzz, The Factory, London, UK
2021 Prick & Stitch, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
2020 The Birthday, The White Crypt Gallery, London, UK
2020 Don’t Touch Me, Newcombe House, London, UK
2018 P3, Vision in the Nunnery, Bow Arts, London, UK
2018 Parlour Geometrique, Chiswick House, London, UK
2018 Flipside, Fold Galley, London, UK
2018 Foley, MuddyYard Space, London, UK
2017 Is This The End?, ICA, London, UK
2017 Doing it in Public, Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall, London, UK
2017 The Public Market Place, ICA, London, UK
2017 Art Night 2017, London, UK
2017 OUTPOST MEMBER'S SHOW, Outpost, Norwich, UK
2017 RCA DEGREE SHOW, RCA, London, UK
2017 ALTERNATIVE FACTS, Camden Art’s Centre, London, UK
2017 14th CINEMA (film screening), Curtain Road, London, UK
2016 DIALOGUES ON THE THRESHOLD, Crypt Gallery, London, UK
2016 STUFF WE DID, Dyson Gallery, London, UK
2016 THE CHARING CROSS LECTURE | Sculpture Court ECA, Edinburgh, UK
2016 WIP Show | Royal College of Art, London, UK
2015 FIDDLING WHILST EARTH BURNS | Dyson Gallery, London, UK
2015 LOCKJAWS* LAUNCH SHOW | East Bristol Contemporary, Bristol, UK
2015 JABBERWOCKY | Ab/Anbar Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2015 CATLIN ART PRIZE | Londonewcastle Project Space, London, , UK
2015 THE RED MANSION ART PRIZE EXHIBTION | The Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, UK
2013 PLATFORM | Modern Art Oxford (MAO), Oxford, UK
2013 RUSKIN DEGREE SHOW | The Old Power Station, Oxford, UK

 

Awards and Residencies
2022 Artist-in-Residence at Fores project, London
2017 CCA Royal College of Art Public Art Commission (in partnership with BVG (Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall)
2014 The Catlin Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2013 The Red Mansion Art Prize (Winner)
2013 Platform at Modern Art Oxford (Shortlisted)