Es Devlin is a pioneering English artist and stage designer whose visionary practice spans public installations and sculptures, kinetic stage designs, as well as monumental events such as fashion shows, Olympic ceremonies and Super Bowl half-time shows. She is a renowned, award-winning creative, having received both a Tony Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Her masterful mark in the theatre was stunningly illustrated in the West End productions of Chimerica (2014), and The Nether (2015), as well as in her dynamic contributions to the Broadway production of The Lehman Trilogy (2022).
With a comprehensive educational background studying both English Literature at Bristol University as well as Fine Arts and Theatre Design at Central St. Martin’s, Devlin set a course for a nuanced and highly creative career. The visionary began exploring experimental opera and narrative theater in her early work at the Bush Theatre of London. She unveiled her prowess in sculptural stage design in 1998 at the National Theatre for “Betrayal” by Harold Pinter.
Devlin forged a vibrant path into concert design with musical group Wire, as well as with Kanye West’s Touch the Sky tour. The artist went on to design West’s future tours of Glow in the Dark and Watch the Throne. 2012 was a game-changing year as Devlin designed integral aspects of the London Olympics’ closing ceremony, and in 2016 ideated the mesmeric design for the Rio Olympics’ opening ceremony.
Delving deeper into installation work, she gained a great deal of interest for her Mirrormaze within Peckham in 2016, as well as for her Singing Tree within the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2017. At that year’s edition of Art Basel Miami, Devlin produced Room2022, a fantastical 7,000-square-foot endeavor. During the London Design Festival of 2018, the artist’s Fifth Lion in Trafalgar Square was a spectacle that emitted poetry created with AI.
Sweeping feats such as designing the UK Pavilion of the 2020 World Expo, held in Dubai, and in 2022 contributing to the Super Bowl Halftime Show cemented Devlin as an international luminary. For the memorable Super Bowl presentation starring Emimen, Dr. Dre, and Kenrick Lamar, the artist received three Emmy Awards including the prestigious Best Production Design. Soon after, Devlin created scenic design for Adele at a Griffith Observatory concert—winning her five more Emmy Awards.
Devlin’s colossal stage designs for cultural icons such as Lorde, The Weeknd, Beyoncé, U2, and Pet Shop Boys are larger-than-life works of art that immerse audiences in her soulful and cutting-edge mind.
Come Home Again, an illuminated choral sculpture created by Devlin, was installed outside Tate Modern in 2022. The large-scale public artwork, commissioned by Cartier, highlights the 243 species on London’s priority conservation list—including moths, birds, beetles, wildflowers, fish and fungi.
With the ethereal piece, Devlin proposed that a first step towards protecting the biosphere is to pay detailed attention to its inhabitants: to observe and draw them, to learn their names, and to remember their stories. Audiences were invited to engage with London Wildlife Trust, with London’s priority species identified by the London Biodiversity Action Plan as declining in numbers within the city and as priorities for active conservation and protection.
This year, Devlin raised the curtain on CONGREGATION within St Mary le Strand in London. Fifty monumental chalk and charcoal portraits of displaced Londoners rise inside the church, each co-authored with the sitters. These individuals, who have experienced forced migration, hold a box that represents the contributions and stories they bring to their new home in London. The project captures the spirit of London’s ever-evolving human landscape, merging art and storytelling into a powerful tribute to the endurance of the human spirit.
CONGREGATION, curated by Ekow Eshun and created in collaboration with UK for UNHCR, draws on Devlin’s months of intimate portrait sessions, inspired by her research into works from The Courtauld’s collection, from Albrecht Dürer to Frank Auerbach. This installation, set against the backdrop of a church built amidst centuries of trade and migration along the Strand, reflects resilience and the possibilities of connection amidst adversity.