Jacob Littlejohn
Jacob Littlejohn (b. 1995, Edinburgh) makes paintings informed by moments of the sublime in our experience of the natural world. Working in an expressionist abstract idiom, he uses non-local color, gravity, rhythm, shifts in scale, and other painterly techniques to layer strata of marks into evocations of geological, cosmic, and oceanic time. Each work attempts to draw from and convey both personal and cultural narratives, especially folktales and myths, and to challenge perceptions of reality while welcoming the supernatural and the enigmatic. Littlejohn lives in New York.
Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Karma, Los Angeles (2024); Kutlesa, Goldau, Switzerland (2024); Half Gallery, New York (2023); Half Gallery Annex, New York (2023); Rafiki Gallery, Edinburgh, (2022); and Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh (2020).
Littlejohn’s exhibition Fata Morgana is currently on view at Karma, Los Angeles through December 21, 2024.
Born 1995, Edinburgh, Scotland
Lives and works in New York City
EDUCATION
2024
MFA, Hunter College, New York
2018
BA, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Karma, Los Angeles, Fata Morgana
Kutlesa Gallery, Goldau, Switzerland, Cosmia
2023
Half Gallery, New York City, Seeing the Forest Through the Trees
Half Gallery – Annex Space, New York City, Metamorphosis
2022
Rafiki Gallery in partnership with Detail, Edinburgh, Littlejohn & McKenzie
2021
Rafiki Gallery at Custom Lane, Edinburgh, These Days
2020
Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, Paper works
2019
Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, The Presentation of Self
The 13th Note 24 Hour Window, Glasgow, Communication Out of Character
2018
No. 8 Creative, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
70 Main Street, Thomaston, Maine, A Particular Kind of Heaven, A Particular Kind of Heaven
Woaw Gallery, Hong Kong, Main Character, curated by Lisa Boudet
Hunter College Thesis Show, New York, Untamed & Beautiful Pathways
Chapter NYC, New York, Drop Scene, curated by Augusto Arbizo
1969 Gallery, New York, World Beyond World: A Benefit Exhibition for the Environment, curated by Alex Abedine
FT2 Gallery, Milan, Metamorphosis
Blue Door Gallery, Los Angeles, Primavera
2023
Kutlesa Gallery, Switzerland, Fresh Nature
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, Tales of Soil and Concrete
Arusha Gallery, New York, Hawthorn and The Feast of Julian
526 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, Immersed, organised by Jack Siebert
2022
Inverness Creative Academy, United Kingdom, North: Visual Art Scotland Members Exhibition
Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, An Alien Show
Royal Glasgow Institute, Fragments, Fragmentation, & Fractures
San Francisco Art Institute, Between Artists: SFAI Alumni And Students Intersect
Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, The Wilding
2021
Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, Fragile Estates
Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, Its About Time
The Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh, Abstract Zeitgeist
2020
The Alchemy Experiment, Glasgow, Love in the Time of COVID
Circus Art Space, Inverness, United Kingdom, Above the Belt
2019
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, SSA | VAS Open 2019
Dock Street Studios, Dundee, United Kingdom, Little Originals
HIX Art, London, HIX Art Award Show 2019
Delphian Gallery, London, Open call 2019
BEERS Gallery, London, Contemporary Visions IX
2018
Chelsea and Kensington Art Fair, London, Not Another Degree Show
The Glasgow School of Art, Degree Show
New Glasgow Society, Glasgow, And Another Thing
2017
The Glue Factory, Glasgow, Series 3
The Old Hairdressers & Stereo, Glasgow, Material Girl
DOK Artist Space, The Steel Shed, Edinburgh, Anniversary
2016
Grace & Clark Fyfe Gallery, Glasgow, PAT Tested
SWG3, Glasgow, Let’s Limbo
Laurieston Arches, Glasgow, 25% EXTRA
WPS Opening, West Princess Street
2015
Argyle House, Edinburgh, *Nothing in Common
Argyle House, Edinburgh, Office Party
2014
Edinburgh College, The Great Big Art Show
AWARDS
2022
Ruth Stanton Scholarship
Cadogan Award Recipient
Open Eye Gallery Award
2021
MFA Fellowship Award, San Francisco Art Institute
2019
Delphian Gallery Open Call
HIX Award Finalist, HIX Art Gallery
2018
KCAW Youth Division x Vardaxoglou Prize Winner
RESIDENCIES
2024
Gar/ten Gallery Residency, Como, Italy
2019-20
Structured Graduate Residency, Leith School of Art
