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 Art, Architecture & Design at UCA and was recently appointed as an external examiner for De Montfort University in Leicester. 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 is a studio holder at the Margate School of Art.
Jon in his studio
Transit Collective (ongoing)
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.
The Shop Front (2016-2026)
Jon established the nascent Shop Front studio & project space in 2016 with his partner. The project space occupied the shop window onto Northdown Road in Cliftonville, facing a shared studio space. Jon curated & supported a rolling programme of shows on a 2 month cycle. A non-commercial activity, the aim was 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.
Selected clients
Ashmolean Museum, British Museum, Hugh Cullum Architects, Launer London, Levitt Bernstein Associates, Margate Festival, Nurture Landscape, Rodić Davidson Architects, SB Construction, The Building Exploratory, Turner Contemporary, Twentieth Century Society, University of East London, Westminster City Council.
Selected exhibitions
— Two person collaborative show with Dominic Rose for Off Season 2026
— A two person show at Ramsay & Williams, Margate
— A group show curated by Sadie Hennessey at Urchin, Margate
— Group show celebrating 10 years of the Lombard Street Gallery, Margate
— A group show at the People’s History Museum, Manchester
— A two part solo show at The Lombard Street Gallery, Margate
— Rodic Davidson, Pied Bull Yard, Bloomsbury
— The Gallery, Cowcross Street, Farringdon
— Various locations in East London
— Manchester
— Oxford House, Bethnal Green
— Bloomsbury Design
— The Front Room, Clerkenwell
— Mutate Britain/Urban Infill/Shelter
— Alan Baxter Gallery, Farringdon
— Exeter Phoenix, Overall Judges Award & Staff Choice Award
— Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
— London School of Economic