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Jon Spencer

Bio

Contact

jon@jonspencer.co.uk
07967 079 150

About

Jon Spencer is an artist, photographer & designer collaborating principally with individuals and organisations that make, shape and study our built environment.

In his personal work, he looks to tease out stories hidden in the fabric and collective memory of the city, retelling them and prompting the viewer to look at their surrounds anew.

He is currently teaching at the Canterbury School of Architecture at UCA. He has been a visiting critic and/or given talks about his work at the University of East London, The Welsh School of Architecture and the City of London Photographic Society.

Originally trained in Architecture at Sheffield University before taking his MA at the London College of Communication in 2003. Jon currently works out of a studio in Margate where he also manages a small exhibition space in the former shop window (see below). 

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Jon in his studio

Ongoing projects

Transit Collective

Jon co-founded Transit Collective with 2 other artists in 2019. Transit is a multi-disciplinary artists’ collective working to bring an open, playful and creative approach to conversations about the local environment, planning and development. Creating opportunities for people to explore their imagination through a process of walking, workshops and craft.

www.transitmargate.co.uk

The Shop Front

Jon established the nascent Shop Front studio & project space in 2016 with his partner. The project space occupies the shop window onto Northdown Road in Cliftonville, facing a shared studio space. Jon curates & supports an ongoing programme of shows on a 2 month cycle. A non-commercial activity, the aim is to provide the opportunity for wide ranging engagement with the arts where that engagement is not restricted to crossing a threshold into potentially alienating spaces. To date there have been 29 shows.

www.shopfrontmargate.co.uk

Selected clients

Ashmolean Museum, British Museum, Cracknell Landscape Architects, Launer London, Levitt Bernstein Associates, Margate Festival, Nurture Landscape, Rodic Davidson Architects, SB Construction, The Building Exploratory, Turner Contemporary, Twentieth Century Society, University of East London, Westminster City Council.

Selected exhibitions

Margate Reimagined

— A two person show at Ramsay & Williams, Margate

— 21 April - 8 May 2023
Last Days of the Dolphinarium

— A group show curated by Sadie Hennessey at Urchin, Margate

— 29 November - 24 December 2018
Ten

— Group show celebrating 10 years of the Lombard Street Gallery, Margate

— 1 December 2018 - 3 February 2019
Loitering with Intent, The Art and Politics of Walking

— A group show at the People’s History Museum, Manchester

— 23 July - 16 October 2016
Re-imaginings & From One Tribe To Another

— A two part solo show at The Lombard Street Gallery, Margate

— 5 - 27 September 2015
A Case for Celebration (2 person commissioned show)

— Rodic Davidson, Pied Bull Yard, Bloomsbury

— 14 - 26 July 2014
Visible City (solo show)

— The Gallery, Cowcross Street, Farringdon

— 19 - 30 November 2013
Article 31.1 (London Festival of Architecture)

— Various locations in East London

— 22 June - 8 July 2012
Cube Open

— Manchester

— 16 December - 4 February 2012
Intersection (2 person show)

— Oxford House, Bethnal Green

— 5 May - 30 June 2011
The Layered City (solo show)

— Bloomsbury Design

— 26 July - end September 2010
The Floor to Ceiling Show

— The Front Room, Clerkenwell

— 11 August - 19 September 2010
Urban Shelter

— Mutate Britain/Urban Infill/Shelter

— July 2010
Transparency and the City: Public Spaces or Forgotten Places?

— Alan Baxter Gallery, Farringdon

— June - July 2010
Exeter Contemporary Open

— Exeter Phoenix, Overall Judges Award & Staff Choice Award

— Sept 2008
Through the Lens

— Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

— July 2008
Londonscapes

— London School of Economic

— March 2007