Category Archives: Julie Jenkinson

It Starts Out Rough, Sculpture by Julie Jenkinson

January 16 – February 2, 2020                 
Opening: January 16 from 6-8

The enigmatic sculptures of Julie Jenkinson start with a simple material premise: a factory mould, the action of a piano, the discarded arm of a doll. Juxtaposed by her knowing hand and eye, however, these elements morph into objects that radiate an uncanny ambiguity. Straddling the line between organic and mechanical, representational and abstract, these constructions are also fanciful: the boats look ready to set sail, and the doll assemblages have a muted theatrical flair. They also delve into the mysteries of repetition, demonstrating how singular elements can be reiterated in order to create bold new forms of visual logic. — David Jager

Julie Jenkinson is a British-born, self-taught multidisciplinary artist and designer living in Toronto.

Image: Jenkinson’s studio, 2019.

Proud to be part of DesignTO 2020.

Julie Jenkinson: Continued Existence

Continued Existence
Solo Sculpture Exhibition
VERSO Gallery @Inabstracto

Opening November 8 from 6-9
November 8-22, 2018

1160 Queen Street West, Toronto

Press Release
Julie Jenkinson’s new sculpture show is based entirely on small and large scale assemblages of post-industrial materials, salvaged wood and found objects. 

Following what she admits is a completely intuitive process, she succeeds in coaxing sensuous qualities out of the most derelict materials. The pitted surface of an industrial wooden spool takes on a rich and comforting roughness, abandoned industrial rubber car parts suddenly resemble ceramics, discarded pipe bowls are polished and oiled until they gleam. She finds bits and pieces of the discarded items around us and re-invests them with a visual allure that is palpable.

Her ability to evoke the primordial and arresting appeal of objects is one of the strongest qualities of her sculpture. She has a knack for finding things that carry corporeal weight, that demand an embodied response from the eye. Alone they’d be unnoticed, with her help they beguile and invite interaction. Relying on a rich and simple palette of mostly velvety black, brass and steel further simplifies her assemblages and unifies their visual logic. It is almost impossible not to touch them. This is especially true of her sculptural jewelry which radiates an exotic post-apocalyptic glamour you might call Bedouin post punk.

Jenkinson’s deep intuition for her materials allows her to pull off these improbable contrasts: degraded machine pieces look luxurious, antique fragments appear hyper-contemporary, mechanical elements become animal and the organic elements turn strangely inert.  She places wood, steel, brass, rubber and ceramic in dialogue with organic elements such as animal hair
or dried gourds. Her industrial rubber auto parts, in the piece “Still Life” for instance, are grouped together to form a trio not unlike a Morandi still life, with one of them topped with a tuft of wild boar hair stuffing taken from a 1960s sofa.

Her wide use of contrasting materials and stylistic elements makes her work difficult to place historically. You immediately think of modernist or futurist sculpture from the turn of the twentieth century, yet the whimsical and surprising organic touches also invoke early surrealism. Some of the more abject pieces, however, bring to mind the far more recent arte povera. Her constant use of the industrial with the organic, however, such as her brass pipes affixed to inky black gourds, also bring Louise Bourgeois to mind. They represent an organic synthesis of a myriad of influences that places them slightly outside of time.

The works in this collection represent a life spent intently investigating the strange charm of discarded objects. In this show, she demonstrates that she can bring them to life.

— David Jager 

Contact: Kate Eisen
kate@inabstracto.com
416-533-6362

Julie Jenkinson, Paintings and Sculpture


Continued Existence 
Paintings and sculpture by Julie Jenkinson
September 2017
Yesterday’s copper, acrylic on paper. 18×24 in. 2017
Infinity, rubber and vintage brass. 20x8x8 in. 2017

BLACKBONES Exhibition

BLACKBONES Group_LR

 

VERSO Gallery and INabstracto Present 

BLACKBONES Collection by Julie Jenkinson
Objects and sculptural jewelry for all sexes.

Thursday, November 26 from 6-9 pm.

The BLACKBONES collection spans the divide between found object, fine art sculpture and jewelry. Working through a deeply intuitive and organic sense of form, Jenkinson creates assemblages of artisanal and salvaged industrial materials. The results are strikingly dramatic pieces that one could only call post modern industrial primitive.

The visual intrigue of each piece derives from the way in which Jenkinson combines the vocabulary of indigenous and ethnic jewelry with a classic modernist sensibility. Bridging ancient and contemporary design, she creates a timelessness around each piece that is hard to place but is difficult to ignore.

Each BLACKBONES piece is irresistibly tactile, inviting you to hold and feel the beauty of their texture and explore their unique forms. Whether worn daily as a signature item or as an occasional accent piece, this collection is bound to draw attention and set the wearer apart.

BLACKBONES is Julie Jenkinson’s signature and thoroughly unique design statement expressed through jewelery and sculpture.

Julie Jenkinson is a British born, self-taught artist and designer living in Toronto. www.blackbones.ca

Brass Snake_LR

above: rubber, brass sculpture maquette, Julie Jenkinson
top: sculptural jewelry by Julie Jenkinson

 

BLACKBONES by Julie Jenkinson

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Julie Jenkinson is a British born artist and designer living in Toronto. Best known for her Animaze Collection of luxury wallpaper, pajamas and fabrics. BLACKBONES, her new collection of primitive modern sculptural jewellery and objects will be launched at VERSO Gallery in the fall, 2015. www.blackbones.ca

Ice Age Scotty Review by David Jager

Ice Age Scotty_Jager Review

Ice Age Scotty Review
David Jager for NOW Magazine

May 22, 2014
Her enigmatic, occasionally haunting images pay homage to the imagination and to unusual and beautiful toy design.” …David Jager read the full review —

www.nowtoronto.com/art/story.cfm?content=198081

VERSO Presents: Photographs by Julie Jenkinson

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Ice Age Scotty
Photographs by Julie Jenkinson

May 1-June 1, 2014
CONTACT Photography Festival
Opening: Saturday, May 3 from 4-6 pm

Ice Age Scotty
In 1961 eleven miniature Japanese Celluloid toy dogs boarded a JAL flight from Tokyo to Moscow where they were to be featured at an international exhibition for rare toys.

Two hundred miles outside of Moscow, the aircraft’s engine malfunctioned and crashed into a glacier in the White Sea. Scotty, the pack leader, guides his fellow passenger canines through a dreamy adventure in the arctic.

Ice Age Scotty is Jenkinson’s playful homage to rare vintage Japanese Celluloid toys.

Scotty, 2014. Archival pigment print. 

VERSO Inaugural Exhibition Review

21 Horas

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Street art study
Julie Jenkinson transforms street art
By David Jager

critic's pick Verso Gallery (1160 Queen West), to October 13. 416-533-6362.
See listing. NOW RATING: NNNN

“Her gift for seeing order in chaos is shown most vividly in her studies of Uruguayan city walls. Here, the intentional hand of the graffiti artist is replaced by abstract textures and surfaces.”….”Jenkinson transforms corners of the city into concise meditations on pure visual experience. Grittiness never looked so sharp.”   read full review

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Introducing VERSO Gallery
VERSO is a new gallery in the heart of Queen street’s West end, situated between
The Drake and Gladstone Hotels. Nestled behind mid century design haven,
INabstracto, VERSO will exhibit a diverse range of design, drawing, sculpture,
painting, video/film and photography.

CURRENT EXHIBITION (until October 13)
36 Hours in Uruguay & Berlin Street Art
Photography by Julie Jenkinson

Jenkinson’s exhibit moves from documentation of Berlin Street art to her nuanced photo documentation of urban surfaces in Uruguay. Jenkinson’s original fascination with Berlin graffiti has evolved into a record of city surfaces that organically erode and accrue meaning. As such, they become a deeper study of how urban environments and visual signs are formed by a city and its residents over the passing of time, forming entirely new connections and resonances.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
All Things Are True
New Portraits by Nathan Eugene Carson
November 20th – December 4th, 2013
Opening November 21st, 6pm-8pm.

Family Dynamics
New Sculpture by Libby Hague
A family of sculpture meets for an annual birthday party.
January 1- February. 8, 2014
Opening Saturday, January 18 – 4-6 pm.

OCAD’s Sculpture/Installation Program, Thesis Exhibition Series:
March, 2014