Jack O’Brien
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Jack O’Brien
Semblance, 2025Grand pianos, roofing asphalt and steel wire
181 x 371 x 48 cm
71.3 x 146.1 x 18.9 inches
Positions #9: Make Some Noise: Desire. Stage. Change. Van Abbemuseum, 2026 -
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Jack O’Brien
Cue the Cue, 2025Former theatre stand made of 54 antique chairs, silver-colored coins, plexiglass and aluminum
600 x 600 x 908 cm
236.2 x 236.2 x 357.5 inches -
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WorksOpen a larger version of the following image in a popup:
Installation view, Non-Specific Objects, Capitain Petzel, Berlin, 2024
Jack O’Brien
Return, 2023Soft pastel, spray paint, photographic print mounted on aluminium, heat-formed PETG plastic, aluminium pipe, butchers netting118.9 x 84.1 x 22 cm
46.8 x 33.1 x 8.7 inchesB-JOBRIEN-.23-0001Further images
The sculptures of Jack O’Brien, assembled by employing various found objects and repurposed materials, emphasize the ambiguity of the materials themselves. The works create confrontation with fragmented humanity. His practice...The sculptures of Jack O’Brien, assembled by employing various found objects and repurposed materials, emphasize the ambiguity of the materials themselves. The works create confrontation with fragmented humanity. His practice explores material culture through the lens of marginalized aesthetics to highlight the political histories of capitalism, and the production of desire.
Visible through layers of assemblage and melted plastic, the cherry motif is chosen by the artist as a symbol of sensuality and the erotic. The cherry maintains a constant presence within mainstream culture. Its symbolic etymology is traceable from the ancient Greeks as the elixir of prosperity to recent advertising campaigns for The United Colours of Benetton and Burberry. The appropriation of this associatevely dense and flirtatious image as the background can be seen as a nod to the fact that Jack O'Brien's work is ostensibly about desire.Exhibitions
Non-specific Objects, Capitain Petzel, Berlin, 2024
ExhibitionsExternal ExhibitionsPressPublicationsVideoBiographyBorn 1993 in London, UK
Lives and works in London, UK
In his practice, Jack O’Brien explores the interplay between materiality, personal experience, and cultural critique. His sculptures, often made from found and repurposed objects combined with consumer materials like shrink wrap, epoxy, and fabric, evoke a sense of precarity and tension, reflecting both physical and social fragility.
O’Brien’s work will be on view in the solo exhibition Yield at Bonner Kunstverein (31 October – 14 February); and is currently included in the group exhibitions Sculpture Beyond the Solid at the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (until 28 February 2027); and British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers at The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry (until 10 January 2027, then touring across the UK).
The artist’s forthcoming and recent projects include exhibitions at TANK, Shanghai; Kunstraum Dornbirn, Austria; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; LUMA Westbau, Zurich; Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover; Ordet, Milan; Camden Art Centre, London; Between Bridges, Berlin; Fondation CAB, Saint-Paul de Vence; CAPC Bordeaux; and Kunsthalle Bratislava. In 2023, he was the recipient of the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze. A recent comprehensive publication on his practice is available at the gallery.
His work is held in major international collections such as the Pinault Collection, Paris; Rubell Museum, Miami; Qiao Zhibing Collection; The Perimeter, London; CAPC Bordeaux; and Kistefos Museum, Norway.
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