Bio

Jacob C Hammes (born 1982 Sigourney, Iowa) is an Interdisciplinary artist, arts organizer, and educator based in Philadelphia. Working primarily in sculpture, drawing, and sound, Hammes’ work explores themes of late capitalist anxieties and absurdities.. Recently he has moved into comedy and joke writing with his 2020 book entitled “101 Jokes About the Working Class,” a collection of (mostly) Leftist jokes and illustrations, and ‘The Grand Ballroom of Doom” a biweekly comic strip depicting the brutality of late stage capitalism as absurdist comedy.  He is the director and curator of Pilot+Projects, an artist-run exhibition space in Philadelphia, and teaches at Tyler School of Art, Moore College of Art and Design,  and University of the Arts. Hammes holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Tyler School of Art.  Hammes has shown at spaces such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Liberty Museum, the Woodmere Art Museum, The Grunwald Gallery at Indiana University, The Hills Aesthetic Center, Temple Contemporary, The Hyde Park Art Center, the Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts in Auckland, Information Space, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.  

Education:
2015 MFA Tyler School of Art, Temple University - Philadelphia, PA
Studies in Painting, Drawing, Sculpture and New Media
2004 BFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, IL
Studies in Sound, Art/Technology, Painting/Drawing.

Select Gallery Exhibitions and Performances

2023
Little Windows @ Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
Art of the State @ Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg PA
Jacob C Hammes: Gulch, Valley. Ravine @ Pink Noise Projects, Philadelphia
Moore Triennial - The Galleries at Moore, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia
Ephemeral Partner @ Imperfect Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
215|610 CONTEMPORARY @ Delaware County Community College
Love Lot @  Mural Arts Philadelphia - Public Art Project

2019-2022
Migration: Woodmere 80th Annual  @ Woodmere Art Museum
Now One with Everyone @ Icebox Project Space
Graphic Content @ National Liberty Museum
New Year’s Eve @ Orgy Park, Brooklyn, NY
Jacob C Hammes: Pond Theory @ Information Space, Philadelphia, PA
University of the Arts  @ Philadelphia Arts Alliance, Philadelphia

2015-2018
Philadelphia Assembled @ Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Idle Hands @ Pilot+Projects, Philadelphia, PA
A Sense of Place @ Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
No Meat in Team @ Crane Arts ICEBOX Gallery, Philadelphia
Social Skills @ Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia
Bare Bones @ The Franklin, Chicago, IL
Beware of False Prophets who come unto You Dressed in Sheep’s Clothing, and Underneath they are Ravening Wolves @ Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2010-14
It’s Not Me It’s You @ Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
Jacob C. Hammes: Medicine Cabinet @ Sofa King Projects, Chicago, IL.
Making is the Mirror @ Roxaboxen Exhibitions. Chicago, IL
NADA Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL with ACRE Projects.
Hammes/Payne @ New Capital Projects. Chicago, IL.
Jacob C Hammes: 21 Motorcycles @ The Hills Esthetic Center, Chicago, IL.
Program/Suffer/Abstain/Deprogram @ Harold Washington College, Chicago, IL.
Vie De Boheme @ Threewalls, Chicago, IL.
Waveforms @ Grunwald Gallery, University of Indiana, Bloomington
Jacob C Hammes/Lisa Rybovich Cralle @ Roots and Culture Contemporary Art Center, Chicago, IL.
Halfway to Entropy @ The Storefront, Chicago, IL.
Here/Not There @ Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Jacob C Hammes: Deep Imagination Therapy @ JJ Morgan & Co., Wellington, New Zealand.
Jacob C Hammes and Vitamin S @ Wine Cellar, Auckland, NZ.
Metatron's Roof: New Work by Jacob C Hammes @ Hungryman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Jacob C Hammes: Deep Imagination Therapy @ JJ Morgan & Co., Wellington, New Zealand.
Synesthetic Collection: Jacob C Hammes @ Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland, New Zealand.
Chawnoiserie (video collaboration with Tom Burtonwood @ Fountain Studios, New York, NY
Bad At Sports @ Apex Arts, New York, NY
Chasing Two Rabbits @ Threewalls, Chicago, IL
Navigating Culture through Paper @ Studio 2. Austin, TX

2009 & Earlier
BEER @ Ben Russell, Chicago, IL.
Salad, Church, and Exercise @ Co Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, IL.
Jacob C Hammes: New Work @ Pall Mall Gallery, Chicago, IL
Liv Ullman, Anaerobic Digestion, Post-Psychiatry, Kansas City, MO. St. Louis, MO.
Songs of Returning, Both Silent and Aloud @ Art of This, Minneapolis, MN.
Vulva O'Keefe Versus Angry Goldsworthy @ Deadtech, Chicago
Preshish Moments @ 4lowershop, Oakland, CA.
Vomitorium with AgitProp @ Gallery 40000, Chicago, IL
To London From Chicago, with Great Love @ ICabin, London, UK.
Jacob C Hammes: Spice Narcissus @ artLedge, Chicago, IL.
Open Source Open Ear @ Mess Hall, Chicago, IL.
Sound Canopy @ Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL.

Residencies and Awards
2022 Mural Arts Creative Placemaking Grant
2022 Philadelphia Office of Arts and Culture - Illuminate the Arts Grant
2021 Art is Essential Award Round Three Award- Knight Foundation
2016 Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Award, Tyler School of Art
2013-2015 Temple University Presidential Fellowship
2012 ACRE residency, Steuben, WI.
2012 Harold Arts residency, Chesterhill, OH.
2011 The Storefront residency, Chicago, IL.
2011 ACRE residency, Steuben, WI.
2010 City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs DCASE Grant
2010 JJ Morgan & Co. residency, Wellington, NZ.
2008 City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs CAAP Grant

Visiting Artist Workshops, Artist Talks and Lectures
2019 University of the Arts
Artist Talk - Sculpture program
2017 - NOBA Art Space 
Panel Discussion - Arts Organizing and creating opportunities for artists
2016 - MFA Professional Practices, Tyler
Artist talk for Pilot Projects
2016 - Kabakov Award Ceremony
Artist talk for award acceptance
2015 - National Film School in ?ód? - ?ód?, Poland
Artist talk with MFA program
2012 - School of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Workshop for instructor Kirsten Leenaars
2012 - School of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Performance for instructor Christa Donner
2012 - DePaul University Chicago 
Guest Speaker and Performance - Senior Design Seminar -  instructor Zack Ostrowski
2011 - Indiana University Grunwald Gallery
Artist Talk for exhibition: Waveforms
2011 - Columbia College, Chicago
Contemporary Practices - Artist Talk with instructor Brandon Alvendia
2010 - Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Electronic Music and Sound Synthesis Workshops
2010 - Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts - Auckland, NZ 
Artist talk for exhibition: Synesthetic Collection 

Selected Publications and Reviews
2023-WHYY (July 2023) - “Whole Lotta Love at Prevention Point’s Love Lot”
2023 - Philadelphia Inquirer (July 26, 2023) “Kensington’s Love Lot is a New Hub for Community and Healing”
2023 - CBS News (July 25, 2023) - “Debut of New COmmunity Space The Love Lot in Kensington”
2023 - Metro Philadelphia (July 20, 2023) - “Local Organizations create outdoor Love Lot in Kensington”
2020-Current “Grand Ballroom of Doom” weekly comic strip - Philadelphia Art Blog
2020 - 101 Jokes about the Working Class - self published joke book
2020 Philly Stewards interview
2019 Philadelphia Art Blog podcast interview
2017 Temple News (April 10,2017) - Interview - Sound as Sculpture
2015 Warm Splash - Tyler School of Art 
2012 Bad at Sports interview and review - 21 Motorcycles.
2012 Makespace interview, November 8.
2012 Grunwald Gallery of Art at Indiana University exhibition catalogue for Waveforms. Bloomington, In.
2011 Sculpture Magazine Making Worlds: Chicago Sound as Sculpture - featuring Chicago Phonography.
2011 Drunken Boat International Journal of Art #12, Nov 8, 2011.
2010 New City Art review for Jacob C. Hammes: Metatron’s Roof. New City Magazine, Chicago, IL.
2011 Sculpture Magazine: Making Worlds: Chicago Sound as Sculpture (review Chiphono), MCA Chicago.
2010 The Big Idea: Te Aria Nui review of Jacob C Hammes: Synesthetic Collection, Auckland, NZ
2007 Leonardo Music Journal. The Art of the Gremlin: Inventive Musicians, Curious Devices artist statement and interview for Rotted Orange.