Jonny Briggs (b. 1985, London) lives and works in London. In search of lost parts of his childhood, Briggs explores a reality outside of the one he was socialised into by creating new ones using himself and his parents as the main subjects. Briggs uses photography to explore his relationship with deception, the constructed reality of the family, and to question the boundaries between child/adult, self/other, nature/culture, real/fake in attempt to revive the unconditioned self, beyond the family bubble. Although easily assumed to be photoshopped or counterfeit, upon closer inspection the images are often seen to be more real than first expected. Involving staged installations, the cartoonesque and the performative, Briggs looks back to his younger self and attempts to recapture childhood nature through assuming adult eyes.
Solo exhibitions include Deconstructions, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2022); Knots, Burgh House and Hampstead Museum, London (2021-22); Economy of Errors, OHSH Projects, London (2021); Trying To Be A Square But Never Being A Square, Ncontemporary Milan (2021); Art Station Dubulti, Latvia, curated by Vineta Kaulaca and Inga Steimane (2019); Location/Dislocation. Between forgetting and remembering, The Mark Rothko Art Center, Latvia, Curated by Vineta Kaulaca (2019); Peer-to-Peer (Nominated by Brett Rogers), LOOK Biennial, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool (2019); Peer-to-Peer, Shanghai Center of Photography, China (2019); Dad Jokes, Ncontemporary, Milan (2019); Photo 50: Who’s Looking at the Family Now? London Art Fair, curated by Tim Clark (2019); Format Festival, University of Derby, UK (2019); Da Uno a Diece, Ncontemporary, Milan (2018); Photoforum PasquArt Photo Museum, Switzerland (2017); DEAD, Saatchi Gallery, London (2015); Catlin Prize World Tour, (2015); Ancestral Home, Simon Oldfield Gallery, London (2013).
Group exhibitions include Untitled Miami Beach, Art Fair, Miami, USA (2022); Photo London with Hi-Noon Editions, London, UK (2022); Uprising, Schloss Görne, Berlin, Germany (2022); Photo London with Hi-Noon Editions, London (2022); My London, Peckham24, Copeland Gallery, London (2018); Group Show: At Home She’s a Tourist, curated by Tom Lovelace, Copeland Gallery, London (2018); Two-person Show: The Manicured Wild, Evy Jokhova & Jonny Briggs, Kristin Hjellegjerde, London (2017); Group Show & Commission: From Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery (2017); This Is Not A Curated Exhibition, Galleria Ramo, Lugano, Switzerland (2017); When something bad happens more than once, it starts to feel normal, Ncontemporary (2016); Centre Photographique, Rouen, Normandy, France, Curated by Raphaëlle Stopin (2016); Soil Culture: Young Shoots, The Eden Project, Cornwall (2016); UK/RAINE art prize, Saatchi Gallery (2016); Enfances, Galerie d’YS, Brussels, Belgium (2015); To Eat With the Eyes, Cabin Gallery (2015); Ermanno Tedeschi Tel Aviv (2014); Foam Talent 2014, l’Atelier Néerlandais, Paris (2014); Facing the Wild – The Unknown, The Others Fair, Turin, curated by Emanuele Norsa and Andrea Scarso (2014).
Highlights and Awards
Jonny Briggs was awarded with V &A Wedgwood Museum Commission with GRAIN (2022); the Residency: The Glass Foundry, Stroud, Summer Shortlist: Grand Prix Vevey Summer (2021); Peer to Peer Nomination (nominated by Brett Rogers); Paul Huf Award Nomination (2019); Studio4 Residency, Chisenhale Art Place, London Summer Paul Huf Award Nomination (2018); Wheatley Bequest Fellowship, Birmingham School of Art (2018).