About

Jo Longhurst explores and critiques traditions of portraiture through a combination of photography, sculptural elements, moving image, performance and installation.

Interested in both physical and psychological experiences, she questions theories of eugenics, representation, gender, power and control. Collaborative works with show dogs and gymnasts investigate the act of looking and being looked at; how we judge and are judged; and how we attempt to fit in – gently probing how cultural ideas of perfection shape personal and national identities, as well as social and political systems. In her most recent body of work Crip, Longhurst works with bindweed – an undesirable, marginalised plant, which grows in an anti-clockwise direction – and 19C photographic portraits of female patients to explore the concept of crip time, a theory at the intersection of feminist, disability, and queer studies which elaborates how the disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill experience time and space differently to others.

Jo‘s work is held in public and private collections and is exhibited internationally. In 2012 she was awarded the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Grange Prize (now the AIMIA/AGO Photography Prize), Canada’s highest award for excellence in international photography, for her ongoing bodies of work The Refusal and Other Spaces. In 2015 she worked with rhythmic gymnasts in a social project in Rio de Janeiro, developing a new body-scanning technique to visualize movement. The resulting archive formed the basis for a new body of work New Order. In 2018 she was commissioned to make 4 new moving image and performance works for the Cultural Programme of the European Sports Championships in Glasgow & Perth. In 2020 this work was shortlisted for the SpallArt Prize, hosted by the Salzburger Kunstverein. Her work has won many other awards including the Ben Cove Award; National Media Museum Photography Bursary; Pavilion Commission; and selection for Bloomberg New Contemporaries and the Discovery Award, Arles.

‘Her combination of appropriated, re-presented images alongside photographic, time-based and sculptural elements reinvigorate a relationship to still photographic images by variously extending their volume, scale and dimension in space.’ Sophie Hackett, Art Gallery of Ontario.

Jo’s art patron scheme BowWowWow offers bespoke canine portraits inspired by her body of work The Refusal, which explores the intimate relationship between human and dog.

Born, Chelmsford, Essex. Lives and works in London and Essex.

Education

PhD Photography, Royal College of Art, London, 2001-2008
BA Photography & Multi Media, University of Westminster, 1994-1998
BA Russian with Politics, University of Leeds, 1980-1984
[Minsk Institute for Foreign Languages, USSR, 1982-3]

Residencies and research posts

2015. Artist in Residence, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro; Centre for Sports Memory, Porto Alegre; Videobrasil, Sao Paulo. Supported by Artist International Development Fund, British Council / Arts Council England.
2013-2016. Professor of Fine Art and Photography, Senior Research Fellow, International Centre for Contemporary Art Research, Birmingham School of Art.
2012. Artist in Residence, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
2009-10. Visiting Artist, Heathrow Gymnastics Club.
2009. Visiting Artist, World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
2008-2012. Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, European Centre for Photographic Research, University of Wales, Newport.

Solo exhibitions

2023. Here, Now, Studio Voltaire, London (GB)
2018. New Order I Other Spaces, Kelvin Hall Ballroom, Glasgow (GB)
2018. New Order I Other Spaces, Perth Concert Hall (GB)
2016. Other Spaces, Titanic Belfast, Belfast (GB)
2013. Jo Longhurst I Present , Sporobole, Sherbrook, Québec (CA)
2012. Other Spaces, Mostyn, Llandudno (GB)
2012. Other Spaces, Ffotogallery, Cardiff (GB)
2012. Suspension, ICIA, Bath (GB)
2010. The Refusal, Art Projects, London Art Fair, with Pavillion (GB)
2008. The Refusal, Museum Folkwang, Essen (DE)
2008. Twelve Dogs, Twelve Bitches, Pavilion, Leeds (GB)
2008. The Refusal, RCA, London (GB)
2006. Descent, MAC, Birmingham (GB)
2005. Twelve Dogs, Twelve Bitches, Recontres d’Arles (FR)
2005. Breed, Studio 1.1, London (GB)
2000. Feast, European Academy for the Arts, London (GB)
2000. Elephant & Castle Families 1994/2000, Museum of London (GB)

Selected group exhibitions

2024. Beneath the Surface I George Stubbs & Contemporary Artists, Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham (GB)
2024. Becoming Animal, Willesden Gallery, London (GB)
2021. Modell Tier, Kunsthaus Göttingen (DE)
2020. Énergie animale. Tiere in der Gestaltung, Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich (CH)
2020. Art in Isolation, Hyman Collection (GB)
2017/18. PFF - Pets Friends Forever. Pets and their People, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden (DE)
2017. Perfect / Imperfect, Galerie Andreas Schmidt, Berlin [with Penelope Umbrico and Mariken Wessels] (DE)
2016. Photography is Magic, Aperture, New York (US)
2015. Work in Progress, International Residency Programme, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janiero (BR)
2015. Gothic, Library of Birmingham, Birmingham (GB)
2015. Sport, Sport, Sport, Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, London (GB)
2014/15. Arche Noah, Uber Tier und Mensch in der Kunst, Museum Ostwall in Dortmund (DE)
2014. Sport, Sport, Sport, Transmission/ Kinning Park, Glasgow (GB)
2014. Still, Solent Showcase, Southampton (GB)
2013. C Magazine Auction, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art / Bonhams Canada, Toronto (CA)
2013. Fans of Feminism, Cass Gallery, London (GB)
2012/13. The Grange Prize, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (CA)
2012/13. The Grange Prize, Canada House, London (GB)
2012. The Worldly House, dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel (DE)
2012. Powerhouse, Smiths Row, Bury St Edmonds (GB)
2012. Critical Dictionary, WORK, London (GB)
2011. Mostyn Open, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno (GB)
2011. Check-In, Harbourside, Folkstone Triennial Fringe (GB)
2010. The Animal Gaze, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (GB)
2010. Exposure, James Hyman Gallery, London (GB)
2010. Update UK: Photography in Britain after 2000, Krakow (PL)
2010. Protected Characteristics, Royal College of Art, London (GB)
2009/10. Cocker Spaniel and Other Tools for International Understanding , Kunsthalle zu Kiel (DE)
2009. Bloomberg New Contemporaries, A Foundation, Rochelle School, London (GB)
2009. Becoming Animal, Becoming Human, nGbK, Berlin (DE)
2009. Photography Auction, Christies, Paris (FR)
2009. London Photography Auction, Phillips de Pury & Company (GB)
2009. Glasgow Art Fair, with Pavilion (GB)
2009. The Animal Gaze, Cass Gallery, Whitechapel (GB)
2008. Bloomberg New Contemporaries, A Foundation, Liverpool Biennial (GB)
2008. New Works: Pavilion Commissions, National Media Museum, Bradford (GB)
2008. Summer Show, Hoopers Gallery, London (GB)
2008. Anticipation, Ultralounge, Selfridges, London (GB)
2008. SHOW RCA, Royal College of Art, London (GB)
2008. Phantasma, Ballhaus/Nordpark, Düsseldorf (DE)
2008. Parade, Shunt Vaults, London (GB)
2007. To the Dogs , Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver (CA)
2007. Anticipation, David Roberts Foundation, London (GB)
2006. DiverseRCA, Royal College of Art, London (GB)
2006. Too Dark in the Park, Cafe Gallery Projects, London (GB)
2005. Nützlich, süß, und museal / das fotografierte Tier (The Photographed Animal / Useful, Cute and Collected), Museum Folkwang, Essen (DE)
2005. Future Face, National Museum of Natural Science, Taipei (TW)
2005. Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (GB)
2004. Future Face, Wellcome Gallery, Science Museum, London (GB)
2004. Weeds, Hiscox Artprojects, London (GB)
2003. Auslländer, Dahl Gallery of Contemporary Art, Lucerne (CH)
2003. Work in progress, Essen Arts Festival, Essen (DE)
2003. T/Reason, Serpentine Pavilion, London (GB)
2003. Treason, Cafe Gallery Projects, London (GB)

Collections

AIMIA (CA)
Artist Pension Trust
bmi Collection (GB)
British Museum (GB)
Hiscox Art Collection (GB and FR)
Horsecross Arts (GB)
The Hyman Collection (GB)
Museum Folkwang (DE)
Museum of London (GB)
National Media Museum (GB)
Pavilion (GB)
UBS Art Collection (GB)

And private collections

Selected publications, interviews and reviews

2024. How Artists Are Shifting the Narrative Around Disability, Jo Lawson-Tancred, artnet
2024. Beneath the Surface: George Stubbs & Contemporary Artists, Wentworth Woodhouse [catalogue]
2023. I like slow looking. I try to make work to slow people down, interview with Ellen WIlkinson, a-n
2023. On Here, Now, Lisa Slominski for Studio Voltaire
2022. Hapax: Commissioning and Publishing New Photography. Issue No 2, Summer
2021. Animals: Photographs that make you think, Henry Carroll, Abrams Image, New York
2020. Fifty Years of Art: The Hiscox Collection 1970–2020, Hiscox/Whitechapel Gallery
2020. Interview with Nadja Penfold, Occam
2020. On Touch (or the impossibility of touch), Rodrigo Orrantia
2019. Other Spaces, Soanyway Magazine, Volume 2, Issue Four
2018. New Order, Other Spaces, Lucy Weir, MAP
2018. BowWowWow, Four&Sons, Issue 9
2018. Barbara Creed, Entangled looking: The crisis of the animal, Artlink, Issue 38:1 Considering the Animals
2017. Ten Years: Aimia | AGO Photography Prize, 2008–2017, Art Gallery of Ontario
2017. Dogs and Gymnasts, interview with David Evans, Elephant Magazine Issue 32, Perfect Me, Perfect You
2017. Really Good Dog Photography , Hoxton Mini Press / Penguin
2017. Refuse Magazine, Issue 1, Stichting Olfa Ben Ali, Amsterdam
2017. AGO Artists in Residence 2011-2016, Art Gallery of Ontario
2016. Photography & Culture, Vol 8, Issue 2&3
2015. Homotopia, EROS Press, London
2015. Canadian Art Installation, AIMIA, Toronto
2015. Photography & Culture, Vol 8, Issue 1
2015. I Know What You're Thinking, Four&Sons , Issue 3
2015. Internacional de Residências, Alexandre Sá, Largo das Artes, Rio de Janeiro
2015. The Leverhulme Trust Annual Review 2015
2014. Arche Noah. Über Tier und Mensch in der Kunst , Museum Ostwall in Dortmund [catalogue]
2014. Still, Solent Showcase Gallery and Hampshire Sculpture Trust [catalogue]
2013. On Perfection: an Artists' Symposium, Jo Longhurst (ed), Intellect Critical Photography Series, University of Chicago Press, with contributions from Mark Durden, Eva Stenram, Clive Cazeaux, Julian Rosefeldt, Catherine Grant, Jo Longhurst, Ray Muller (Leni Riefenstahl), Ceri Higgins, David Evans, Francette Pacteau, Leslie Dick with Audrey Wollen, Jonathan Whitehall, Michal Heiman, Liam Devlin, Oriana Fox, Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno, Dan Hill, Jane & Louise Wilson, Marco Bohr.
2013. Zetesis, Vol 1. No. 2, Johnny Golding (ed), ARTicle Press
2013. Jo Longhurst I Other Spaces, Matt Packer, Journal of Photography and Culture
2013. Beyond Perfection: Jo Longhurst breaks down conventions, Mel Cousipetcos & Campbell Boyer in Beyond the Screen, Four&Sons
2013. Intellect Books Catalogue, Intellect Publishing, Bristol
2012. Jo Longhurst I Other Spaces, Cornerhouse/ Ffotogallery Publishing with Mostyn, with artist text, foreword by Alfredo Cramerotti and David Drake, essay by Sarah Knelman, artist interview with Charlotte Cotton. [catalogue]
2012. Grange Prize 2012: Jo Longhurst wins Canada's highest photography honour, Justin Go, National Post
2012. Artist interview, The Grange Prize, Art Gallery of Ontario [video]
2012. Jo Longhurst wins $50,000 Photography Prize, BBC News
2012. Other Spaces, David Drake, Blown Magazine
2012. Jo Longhurst, Penarth, Skye Sherwin, The Guardian Guide
2012. Physical Perfection, Jo Longhurst, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Kate E Taylor-Jones, Source, Issue 72
2012. Other Spaces, Tim Peake, The Gymnast
2012. Photographic Perfection: Capturing the Competitive World, Alice E Vincent, Huffington Post
2012. Jo Longhurst / Other Spaces, Ffotogallery, Rory Duckhouse, Aesthetica
2012. Pikes, straddles, layouts and twists in Jo Longhurst's Other Spaces at Ffotogallery, Culture24 Reporter
2012. Welsh art: inspirational artists and must-see galleries, David Atkinson, The Telegraph
2012. Other Spaces: Jo Longhurst’s stunning shots of gymnasts are a joy to behold, It's Nice That, James Cartwright
2012. Other Spaces, 1000 Words, Tim Clark
2012. Behind The Image, Anna Fox and Natasha Caruana, AVA Publishing, Lausanne [book]
2011. Critical Dictionary, edited by David Evans, Black Dog Publishing [catalogue]
2010. Photomonth in Krakow , Municipality of Krakow & Ministry of Culture and National Heritage [catalogue]
2010. criticaldictionary Issue 23/ Perfection
2010. criticaldictionaryeditions [limited edition print with book]
2009. Cocker Spaniel and Other Tools for International Understanding , Kunsthalle zu Kiel & Ursula Blickle Foundation, Dumont [catalogue]
2009. Becoming Animal, Becoming Human, nGbK, Berlin [catalogue]
2009. Selected Acquisitions, Hiscox Contemporary Art Collection
2009. Birds & Beasts, Meat Magazine: Issue 8
2009. Nature Calls: Animals in Visual Culture, Rikke Hansen, Resonance FM
2009. Looking through the eyes of a dog, Nick Waters, Dog World
2008. Jo Longhurst I The Refusal, Steidl, with artist text and an introduction by Ute Eskildsen. [catalogue]
2008. An Opportunity to Develop: Pavilion Commissions Media Museum, Mick Gidley, Source, Issue 57
2008. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2008 [catalogue]
2008. Pavilion Commissions Programme 2008 [catalogue]
2008. Royal College of Art Photographic Practice 2008, RCA London [catalogue]
2008. Jo Longhurst - The Refusal, Folkwang Museum Essen, Thomas W. Kuhn, Kunstforum International, No.191
2008. Jo Longhurst's Best Shot, Leo Benedictus, The Guardian
2008. The Whippet Snapper, Hannah Duguid, The Independent
2008. The Animal in Art from Bosch to Longhurst, Dr Hella Nocke-Schrepper, Museum Folkwang
2008. Hund als Zentrales Motiv, Christiane Vielhaber, WDR 3
2008. Twelve dogs, twelve bitches, Suddeutsche Zeitung Magazin
2008. The Human Factor, The Photographers' Gallery: Photography Special, Annie Dare, Shots, Edition 106
2008. The Refusal by Jo Longhurst & Bird by Roni Horn, 5B4
2008. Artist Voice Interview, National Media Museum, Bradford [video]
2008. New Works: Pavilion Commissions 2008, Greg Hobson, Archive 13, National Media Museum
2008. Twelve dogs, twelve bitches, Claudia Winkleman's Arts Show, BBC Radio 2
2008. Twelve dogs, twelve bitches, Jean Wainwright, HotShoe International
2008. A-Z of Gymnastics: a Visual Catalogue, Tim Peake, The Gymnast
2008. Shooting from the Hip - Five great photography shows, Times Online
2008. All the right moves, Hannah Duguid, The Independent
2008. Twelve dogs, twelve bitches: The Dog in Art with Nick Waters, Dog World (UK) and Dog News (USA)
2008. Snapshot, Daisy Greenwell, The Big Issue
2008. Jo Longhurst - The Whippet Show, Style100
2008. Interview with Jo Longhurst, Arata Sasaki, HITSPAPER
2008. Perfectibility: the Whippet as a Mode of Enquiry, Jo Longhurst, RCA London [a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the RCA for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy]
2007. To the Dogs, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver
2007. Selected Acquisitions, Hiscox Contemporary Art Collection
2007. Sehen Zeigen, Steidl Verlag
2007. Research RCA, Royal College of Art [book]
2006. Future Face, Sandra Kemp, National Science & Technology Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan [catalogue]
2006. William Wegman: Funney Strange , Jo Longhurst, Camera Austria 95
2005. The photographed animal / useful, cute and collected, Museum Folkwang, Steidl [catalogue and book of essays]
2005. I Know What You’re Thinking, Portfolio: Contemporary Photography in Britain, Issue 41
2005. Photography Arles 2005, Actes Sud [catalogue]
2005. Foto-Ausstellung: Das Mienenspiel der Tiere, Spiegel Online
2005. Put me off at the Strawberry, Sean O'Hagan, The Observer
2005. Breed, Keran James, Studio 1.1
2004. Future Face: Image, Identity, Innovation, Sandra Kemp, Profile Books, London
2004. Weeds, Hiscox Art Projects [catalogue]
2003. Auslländer, Dahl Gallery of Contemporary Art [catalogue]

Guest speaker

An Academy of Her Own; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Arts Institute at Bournemouth; Austrian Cultural Forum, London; Birmingham Institute of Art & Design; Bristol University; The Cass School of Art, London Metropolitan University; Cardiff School of Art; CCA, Glasgow; Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London; CRASSH, Cambridge University; Edinburgh College of Art; Ffotogallery, Cardiff; Flat Time House, London; Folkwang Hochscuhle, Essen; Georg-Kolbe Museum and nGbK, Berlin; Goldsmiths, University of London; ICIA, Bath; International Association for the Philosophy of Sport, Natal; Glasgow School of Art, Kelvin Hall; Kunsthalle zu Kiel; Leeds Arts University; Leeds University; Lincoln University; The Manchester Museum; Mostyn, Llandudno; National Media Museum, Bradford; Musée de la Nature et des Sciences de Sherbrooke; Oxford University; Pavilion, Leeds; Plymouth University; Royal College of Art, London; Studio Voltaire, London; Swansea Metropolitan University; The Photographers’ Gallery, London; The Watershed, Bristol; LCC, University of the Arts, London; University of Creative Arts, Farnham / Rochester; University of Brighton; University of Derby; University of Manchester; University of Northampton; University of Ottawa; University of Southampton; University of Wales, Newport; University of Westminster; Whitechapel Gallery and various Chinese art schools.