Esmeralda "Es" Devlin (; born 24 September 1971) is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto

kinetic Kinetic (Ancient Greek: κίνησις “kinesis”, movement or to move) may refer to: * Kinetic theory of gases, Kinetic theory, describing a gas as particles in random motion * Kinetic energy, the energy of an object that it possesses due to i ...

sculptural forms.

Early life

Devlin was born in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

, London, on 24 September 1971. She studied English literature at Bristol University, followed by a Foundation Course in Fine Art at

Central St. Martin's Central Saint Martins is a public university, public tertiary education, tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and pos ...

eventually specialising in theatre design. While undertaking her studies, she prepared the props for Le Cirque Invisible, the circus company founded by

Victoria Chaplin Victoria Agnes Thierrée-Chaplin (born May 19, 1951) is a British-American circus performer. She is the daughter of film actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin from his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, and the granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. C ...

and Chaplin's husband, Jean-Baptiste Thierrée.

Career

Her practice began in narrative theatre and experimental opera After a period working for London's Bush Theatre, she first worked for the National Theatre in 1998 when

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...

asked her to design the set for a revival of Harold Pinter's ''

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. ...

''. She has since worked on sculptural designs for the theatre. "Each of her designs is an attack on the notion that a set is merely scenery" wrote

Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. His most recent novel is ''Mayf ...

in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' in 2016. Devlin "is in demand because she can enter the psychic ether of each production and make it glow with significance." In September 2018 it was announced that Devlin will design the UK Pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai. Known as th
Poem Pavilion
it will feature an illuminated 'message to space' to which each of the Expo's anticipated 25 million visitors will be invited to contribute. Devlin is the first woman to be commissioned by the UK since world expositions began in 1851. Her luminous fluorescent red ''Fifth Lion'' sculpture roared

A.I. Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...

generated collective poetry to crowds in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

during

London Design Festival London Design Festival is a citywide design event that takes place over nine days every September across London. It was conceived by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans CBE in 2003 and celebrated its 20th edition in September 2022. In an article by ...

September 2018. ''The Singing Tree'', her collective choral carol installation at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, fused machine-learning with sound and light and was viewed by over ten thousand visitors during Christmas 2017; her ''Mirrormaze'' generated queues around the block in Peckham in 2016. Further explorations of labyrinthine and map based geometries led to the 7000 square foot hotel room odyssey ''Room2022'' at

Art Basel Miami Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

2017 and the projection-mapped ovoid model city ''MASK'' at Somerset House 2018. The designer collaborated with the theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli on an interpretation of ''The Order of Time'' read by

Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Oli ...

at the rooftop art space, BOLD Tendencies in Peckham in September 2018. Devlin has made large scale touring stage sculptures in collaboration with Beyoncé,

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, U2,

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...

, Lorde, Pet Shop Boys, and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

in London. Devlin also designed the London Olympics

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

in 2012 and the opening ceremony of the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. Her work has received three

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

. She is a fellow of University of the Arts London, and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to design. In 2018 she was elected a

Royal Designer for Industry Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustaine ...

for Theatre Design. Devlin is the subject of episode three of a

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

documentary series: '' Abstract: The Art of Design''. In 2019, Devlin delivered a talk at the

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

conference in Vancouver entitled 'Mind-blowing sculptures that fuse art & technology'. It was later selected by TED curator

Chris Anderson Chris Anderson may refer to: Sports * Chris Anderson (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball player * Chris Anderson (cheese roller), 22-time winner of annual cheese rolling * Chris Anderson (footballer, born 1925) (1925–1986), Scottish footb ...

as one of the best talks of 2019. Her collaboration with rapper Dave and producer Fraser T Smith won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song 2021. Her work on the 2022 Super Bowl Half Time show featuring

Dr Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

and Eminem won 3 Emmy Awards including best production design while her work on Adele's Griffith Observatory performance also won 5 Emmys at the same ceremony. She received widespread attention and a

Tony Award for Best Scenic Design This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design for outstanding set design of a play or musical. The award was first presented in 1947. In 1960, 1961, and since 2005, the category was divided into Scenic Des ...

for her work on the Sam Mendes directed play ''

The Lehman Trilogy ''The Lehman Trilogy'' is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It follows the lives of three immigrant brothers from when they arrive in America and found investment firm through to the collapse of the company in ...

''.

Personal life

Devlin is married to the theatrical costume designer Jack Galloway; they have two children and live in London.

Recognition

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

References

External links

*
Video: Es Devlin talk for Bloomberg BusinessWeek January 2013Video: Es Devlin TEDx talk November 2012Video: Interview with Es Devlin for the Royal Opera House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Es English costume designers English scenic designers Living people 1971 births Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Laurence Olivier Award winners BBC 100 Women People from Kingston upon Thames Women costume designers Scenographers Tony Award winners