Saturday, Aug 22, 2026
Convo : Jyll Bradley & Melanie Kress
About
Please join us for a conversation between artist Jyll Bradley and Public Art Fund senior curator Melanie Kress about Portal (for Silver Eel Cove), Lighthouse Works’ 2026 Public Art Commission. Together, they will explore the ideas that shape the work—including light, landscape, perception, and our relationship to the natural environment—while discussing Bradley’s multidisciplinary practice and the power of public art to connect people with place.
Artists
Bio
Jyll Bradley (b.1966, Folkestone, UK) is a British artist based in London who works across installation, photography, sculpture, film and performance. Her practice combines the formal vigour of Minimalism with ideas of queerness, light, cultivation and community. Bradley studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths’ College (1985-88) and the Slade School of Art (1991-93). Her acclaimed large-scale public works, using her signature material of fluorescent plexiglass include The Hop (2022) commissioned by the Hayward Gallery and Green/Light (for M.R.) (2014) for the 2014 Folkestone Triennial. Bradley's installations often become sites for creative collaboration including performance, music and film reflecting her interest in art as a potent gathering place for diverse people and ideas.
Jyll Bradley has presented exhibitions and projects worldwide for over 35 years. Her most recent exhibitions include her survey Running and Returning, The Box, (Plymouth, UK, 2025); Frieze Sculpture (London, UK, 2023); Threshold, (Kaunas, Lithuania, 2022) and Pardes, The Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh, UK, 2021). Bradley’s forthcoming exhibitions for 2026 include the Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK.
Bradley’s monograph Running and Returning was published by Kulturalis in 2025. Her work is held in major public collections including the Government Art Collection, UK; Arts Council Collection, UK; the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK; The Faith Museum, UK and the National Library of Australia; as well as significant private collections internationally.
Website
https://www.jyllbradley.com/Bio
Melanie Kress is Senior Curator at Public Art Fund in New York City. At Public Art Fund, she has organized exhibitions with artists including Monira Al Qadiri, Genesis Belanger, Torkwase Dyson, Camille Henrot, Edra Soto, and Carmen Winant, and contributed to the selection of 19 artists for permanent commissions at JFK Airport’s Terminal 6. Previously, she was Curator at High Line Art, overseeing a broad range of sculpture commissions, performances, film & video exhibitions, and education and engagement initiatives. At High Line Art, she curated projects with artists including Maria Thereza Alves, Lubaina Himid, Zoe Leonard, Ligia Lewis, Duane Linklater, and Will Rawls, among many others. Kress is a Visiting Critic at Yale University School of Art. She holds an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths College, University of London and a BA in Art History and Visual Arts from Barnard College, Columbia University.