Jesse Akele (b. 1995, London) is a British-Jamaican painter raised in West Yorkshire and based in London. Akele received an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2023, where she was awarded the Basil H. Alkazzi Scholarship and shortlisted for the Chadwell Award. Her graduate work was acquired by the Royal College of Art Collection, and her work is held in private collections. In 2024, Akele received an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Guts Gallery, PM/AM, LBF Contemporary and Workplace, London.
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Exhibitions
Cold Enough for Snow, Workplace, London, 2025
Like a Beacon Against the Cold, LBF Contemporary, London, 2024
What Now? 54, PM/AM, London, 2024
BUFFER 2, Guts Gallery, London, 2023
Layered Textures, Cromwell Place, London, 2023
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Somerset House, London, 2023
Meet Me at the Sound System, Harlesden High Street Gallery, London, 2023
Royal College of Art Graduate Show, London, 2023
Awards & Scholarships
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, 2024
Chadwell Award, Shortlisted, 2023
Basil H. Alkazzi Scholarship, 2022
Education
MA Painting, Royal College of Art, London, 2023
Publications
ARTCUBE Discoveries, Top 100 Early-Career Artists, 2024
Artiq Annual Volume 2, Ones to Watch, 2024
