Jill Downen (born 1967) is a Kansas City-based sculptor and installation artist who examines the relationship between the human body and architecture. A lightning strike to the family home in Belleville, Illinois, which scarred the plaster walls and exposed the wood lath beneath, shaped that interest. Downen’s recent works, which they call reimagined drawings, layer plaster, concrete, gold leaf and lapis lazuli on lath or metal mesh.
Downen has made site-specific installations for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, including the 2004 Great Rivers Biennial and Place is the Space (2013), and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (Counterparts, 2011). Their work appeared in State of the Art 2020 at Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, and their sculpture Architectural Folly from a Future Place is on permanent view in Swope Park, Kansas City.
Downen received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2010), a Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Artist Award (2015), a Santo Foundation grant (2016) and the Stone and DeGuire Contemporary Art Award (2018). Residencies include the Cité internationale des arts, Paris (2007), the MacDowell Colony (2009), MASS MoCA (2019) and Art Omi (2024). Their work is in the collection of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Downen holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (1989) and an MFA in sculpture from the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis (2001), where they were a Danforth Scholar. They are Associate Professor and Chair of Sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute and have led the department since 2012. Downen is represented by Bruno David Gallery.
SELECTED WORKS
Jill Downen Plumb, 2019–2026 Plaster and pigment on lath 78 x 48 in. (183 x 122 cm), framed
Jill Downen Oscillation, 2019–2026 Plaster and pigment on lath 78 x 48 in. (183 x 122 cm), framed
Jill Downen Emplacement, 2019–2026 Plaster and pigment on lath 78 x 48 in. (183 x 122 cm), framed
Jill Downen Birthmark I, 2026 Plaster and gold leaf on lath 18 x 24 x 2 1/2 in. (45.7 x 61 x 6.4 cm)
Jill Downen Birthmark II, 2026 Plaster and gold leaf on lath 18 x 24 x 2 1/2 in. (45.7 x 61 x 6.4 cm)
Jill Downen Breast Block, 2012 White concrete 19 1/16 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (48.3 x 21.6 x 21.6 cm)
Jill Downen Window Women, 2012/2017 Gypsum, polystyrene and latex paint (49 elements) 60 x 60 x 20 15/16 in. (152.4 x 152.4 x 53.3 cm)
Jill Downen Breast Block, 2017 Gypsum, polystyrene and acrylic paint 19 1/16 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (48.3 x 21.6 x 21.6 cm)
Jill Downen White, 2017 Acrylic on paper mounted on panel 12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
Jill Downen Untitled I (Here All Is Distance, There It Was Breath series), 2019 Plaster and pigment 24 x 18 x 1 3/4 in. (61 x 45.7 x 4.4 cm)
Jill Downen Plumb Line, 2020 Solid brass and mason line 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/16 in. (14 x 8.9 x 5.1 cm)
Jill Downen Les Briques Femelle, 2021 Concrete, gold leaf, white gold leaf and mixed media 6 7/16 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (16.5 x 6.4 x 6.4 cm)
Jill Downen Untitled II, 2019 Plaster and pigment 24 x 18 x 1 3/4 in. (61 x 45.7 x 4.4 cm)
Jill Downen Untitled III, 2019 Plaster and pigment 24 x 18 x 1 in. (61 x 45.7 x 2.5 cm)
Jill Downen Spine, 2011 Plaster on paper 37 x 9 in. (94 x 22.9 cm)
EXHIBITIONS
BRUNO DAVID GALLERY, ST. LOUIS
Emplacement and Redux
Solo exhibition
6 March – 11 April 2026
NEWS
AWARD
Stone and DeGuire Contemporary Art Award
Sam Fox School, Washington University in St. Louis, February 2018
PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED PRESS
INTERVIEW
In Conversation with Jill Downen
INES Magazina, D. Dominick Lombardi, August 2025
REVIEW
Equilibrium and Alignment: Jill Downen’s Weightless at NUNU Fine Art
Whitehot Magazine, Yohanna M. Roa, March 2025
FEATURE
5 Standout Shows to See at Small Galleries This February
Artsy, Maxwell Rabb, February 2025
REVIEW
2015 Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Artist Awards
KC Studio, James Martin, November 2015