Inaugural King’s Inns award goes to visual artist Jesse Jones
By Aideen O'Flaherty
VISUAL artist Jesse Jones has been announced as the recipient of the inaugural Creative Residency Award. This award, which is a six-month residency, is a joint initiative from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns together with Dublin City Council Culture Company.
Jesse, who is from Fettercairn and is a past pupil of Old Bawn Community School, blends history with current social and political issues in her work, which crosses the media of film, performance and installation.
Tracy Geraghty (Project Manager, Dublin City Council Culture Company), Aalia Kamal (Head of Engagement, Dublin City Council Culture Company), Mary Griffin (CEO/Under Treasurer, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns), Michael Cush (barrister), Jesse Jones (artist), Iseult Byrne (CEO, Dublin City Council Culture Company), and Renate Ní Uigin (Librarian, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns). Photo by Marc O’Sullivan
Jesse represented Ireland at the Venice Biennial 2017 with her work Tremble Tremble, using a witch as a female archetype and offering an enthralling take on how women are represented, with particular emphasis on the law in relation to women’s bodies.
The creative residency will begin on September 1, allowing Jesse to explore the theme of art and law, and to develop a new work, with reference to King’s Inns and the historic environment of Henrietta Street, where both King’s Inns and Dublin City Council Culture Company are based.
Jesse said: “I am deeply honoured to take part in this new and exciting collaboration between The Honorable Society of King’s Inns and Dublin City Council Culture Company.
“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 in a community context in and of itself; which is richly connected to the history and practice of the law in Ireland.”
The talented artist plans to collaborate with legal advisors, key workers and activists to create a new work during the course of the six-month residency.
