Jessica Rankin

Jessica Rankin (born 1971, Sydney) is an Australian artist who lives and works in New York. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in the US, Europe and Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include White Cube, London (2007), PS1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York (2006) and Franklin Artworks, Minneapolis (2005). Rankin is best known for her organdy 'embroidered paintings' as well as her drawings, watercolors, and editioned prints, sometimes linked to her larger scale works. Rankin's father is also a successful artist David Rankin. Her mother was poet and playwright Jennifer Rankin and her step-mother is author and poet Lily Brett. Rankin shares her studio with her partner, also a celebrated artist, Julie Mehretu. Rankin is represented by Christian Haye of The Project gallery in the USA and in 2007 began to exhibit with Jay Jopling at the White Cube art gallery in the UK.

Appropriating methods traditionally identified with feminine pursuits - embroidery and needlework - Rankin's work and her organdy 'emroidered paintings' feature a series of 'mental maps', with codes, signs and symbols that explore ideas of memory, intuition and interpretation. Keys embroidered works include Nocturne (2004), Hour to Hour (2007), Everything is Still There (2005) and Passage (Dusty Humming) (2007) which presented a new style of embroidered work focusing solely on text rather than text with image.

Rankin also creates drawings and watercolors that provides information on the process. Sketches of biomorphic forms feature alongside abstract representations of astral or lunar cycles, while other studies depict recognizable scenery. Rankin's first European show at White Cube in 2007 highlighted this side of Rankin's practice by displaying 88 drawings and watercolors in their Hoxton Square gallery. Key works on paper include Cloud & Sun (2003), San Miguel (2005), Word Construction (2005), Leaves (2006), Rockface (2006) and Couple (2006).

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