About | Jules Jackson

Jules Jackson (American, b. 1996) uses folklore and fantasy to explore the spiritual dimensions of transmasculinity and queer manhood. Through painting, sequential art and film, Jules investigates the conflict between nature and technology, centering relationships between humans and animals. In May 2022, he completed his BFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Jules' visual research investigates human-animal transformations as a space of boundless potential that defies essentialist concepts of identity. His most recent body of work, Miraculous and Terrifying, is a multimedia narrative that draws a connection between the transformation of a werewolf and the process of gender transition. This series was exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art at UTC in April 2022.

He also co-curated the exhibition MASC at Gallery 1010 in Knoxville, TN in May of 2022, alongside friend and colleague Will Sutton. Jules’s work has most recently been featured at Wavelength Space, Stove Works, and the Association for Visual Arts in Chattanooga, TN.

In addition to his studio art practice, Jules is the Programs Assistant at ArtsBuild, where he helps to develop creative and educational programs. The most recent project he led was the reimagined Hamilton County High School Art Competition, a partnership with Stove Works, in which Hamilton County students were asked to submit artwork in response to what they had lost or gained during the COVID-19 pandemic. This competition will culminate in the exhibition Metamorphosis: Loss & Grace on display at the Hamilton County Courthouse in July 2022.

Exhibitions and Festivals

2022

MASC | Gallery 1010 | Knoxville, TN
Live, Love, Laugh | At304 | Chattanooga, TN
UTC BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition | Institute of Contemporary Art | Chattanooga, TN
Break My Heart | Wavelength Gallery | Chattanooga, TN
Tiny Things | Wavelength Gallery | Chattanooga, TN

2021

Between the Bridges Festival | Association for Visual Arts | Chattanooga, TN
OLD/NEW | Stove Works | Chattanooga, TN

Professional Experience

Programs Assistant | ArtsBuild

Chattanooga, TN | 2021 - Present

Led the reimagined Hamilton County High School Art Contest, in partnership with Stove Works gallery.
Co-curator of the exhibition Will/Aspire: A UTC Art Student Showcase on display at the Arts Building, alongside Jonathan Dean.

Teaching Artist | Soddy Daisy Community Library

Chattanooga, TN | 2022

Led the two-part class Manga 101 for children and young adults.

Filmmaker | 6 Feet or More (Working Title)

Chattanooga, TN | 2020 - Present

Participatory documentary film about the experiences of a group of small-town southern college students as they attempt to navigate the world post-COVID.
Featured in the 2021 ReSEARCH Dialogues conference at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Teaching and Research Assistant | Olivia Wolf, Ph. D., Assistant Professor of Art History | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | Chattanooga, TN | 2019

Completed independent research projects: The Body in Olmec Art and The Iconography of the Black Madonna.

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | 2018 - 2023

BFA in Painting and Drawing
BS in Communications
Co-founder and President of The Roost student filmmaking collective (2021 - Present).
Assistant Director of Mocs News (2021 - Present).
Vice President of the Art History Association (2021 - Present).
President of the Art History Association (2020 - 2021).

Publications, Conferences, and Awards

“Birth, Life, & Death in Appalachia” | Emma Riva, UP Magazine | 2021
North Callahan Undergraduate Essay Prize | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | 2021
6 Feet or More Panel Discussion | Research Dialogues, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | 2021
Southern Literary Festival | University of North Georgia | 2021
- Second place in the Fiction competition.