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Es Devlin

CBE RDI
Es Devlin in Studio.jpg
Devlin in 2016
Born
Esmeralda Devlin

(1971-09-24) 24 September 1971 (age 53)
Kingston upon Thames, London, England
Education
Occupation Artist and designer
Spouse(s) Jack Galloway
Children 2
Awards

Esmeralda Devlin CBE RDI (/ɛz/; 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 sculptural forms. She has received several accolades including a Tony Award and two Olivier Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 by Queen Elizabeth II for services to design. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

Devlin is known for her extensive work in the theatre. For her work in the West End she won two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Set Design for Chimerica (2014), and The Nether (2015). She was Olivier-nominated for Hamlet (2016), The Lehman Trilogy (2019), and Dear England (2024). For her work on Broadway she won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play for The Lehman Trilogy (2022). She was Tony-nominated for Machinal (2014), and American Psycho (2016). She is also known for her The Hunt (2019) and The Motive and the Cue (2023).

Early life and education

Devlin was born in Kingston upon Thames, London, on 24 September 1971. She attended Cranbrook School, Kent.

She studied English literature at Bristol University, followed by a Foundation Course in Fine Art at Central St. Martin's eventually specialising in theatre design. While undertaking her studies, she prepared the props for Le Cirque Invisible, the circus company founded by Victoria Chaplin and Chaplin's husband, Jean-Baptiste Thierrée.

Career

Es Devlin's career began in narrative theatre and experimental opera, with early work at London's Bush Theatre. In 1998, she made her National Theatre debut when Trevor Nunn invited her to design the set for Harold Pinter's Betrayal. Since then, Devlin has gained a reputation for her sculptural and innovative designs for the stage.

In 2003, she ventured into concert design with her first collaboration, working with the band Wire. In 2005, Kanye West hired her to design his Touch the Sky tour, marking the start of a long-term collaboration, which continued with his Glow in the Dark and Watch the Throne tours.

In 2012, Devlin designed the scenic elements for the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. Four years later, in 2016, she created the set design for the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.

Her work on installations also began gaining attention, with her 2016 installation Mirrormaze in Peckham drawing large crowds. In 2017, she designed the Singing Tree at the Victoria and Albert Museum, an interactive machine-learning-based installation, viewed by over 10,000 visitors during Christmas. That same year, she created Room2022, a 7,000 square-foot installation at Art Basel Miami.

In 2018, Devlin's Fifth Lion installation in Trafalgar Square, which roared AI-generated poetry to crowds, was a highlight of the London Design Festival. Also in 2018, she collaborated with theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli on a performance of The Order of Time, narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch at BOLD Tendencies in Peckham. Later that year, she designed MASK, a projection-mapped model city displayed at Somerset House.

In 2019, Devlin delivered a talk at the TED Conference in Vancouver titled Mind-blowing sculptures that fuse art & technology, which was selected by TED curator Chris Anderson as one of the best talks of the year. She also worked on The Hunt, a play directed by Rupert Goold, which premiered in London and transferred to St. Ann's Warehouse in New York in 2024.

Devlin's career took on international projects, including designing the UK Pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai, making her the first woman to receive such a commission since the inception of world expositions in 1851.

In 2021, her collaboration with rapper Dave and producer Fraser T. Smith won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song. She also co-designed the Brit Awards statuettes with artist Yinka Ilori.

In 2022, Devlin's work on the Super Bowl Halftime Show, featuring Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem, earned her three Emmy Awards, including one for Best Production Design. That same year, her scenic design for Adele's performance at Griffith Observatory won five additional Emmy Awards. Her scenic design for The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, won her the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design.

Throughout her career, Devlin has collaborated on large-scale stage designs for artists including Beyoncé, Adele, U2, The Weeknd, Lorde, and Pet Shop Boys and worked with institutions such as the Royal Opera House in London.

Style

The Poem Pavilion she designed at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai - following the UK's theme "Innovating for a Shared Future" - featured an illuminated "message to space" to which each of the Expo's million visitors would be invited to contribute.

Using plastic trees, sellotape, stretchy mirrored sheeting, string, she builds "dream-like constellation of things" explaining that “the piece happens between those objects,”

"Each of her designs is an attack on the notion that a set is merely scenery" wrote Andrew O'Hagan in The New Yorker in 2016. Devlin "is in demand because she can enter the psychic ether of each production and make it glow with significance." For Hamlet director Lyndsey Turner, Devlin “doesn't design what a play wants but what it needs.”

Recognition

  • Fellow of University of the Arts London

Devlin is the subject of episode three of the Netflix documentary series Abstract: The Art of Design.

Work

Theatre

Year Project Credit Venue Ref.
1999 Howie the Rookie Scenic Design Bush Theatre, London
2001 A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Scenic Design / Costume Design Ambassador's Theatre, West End
2003 American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2013 Chimerica Scenic Designer Almeida Theatre, West End
2014 Machinal Set Design American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2014 The Nether Scenic Designer Royal Court Theatre, London
2014 American Psycho Scenic Design Almeida Theatre, West End
2016 Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
2015 Hamlet Scenic Designer Barbican Theatre, West End
2018 Aristocrats Scenic Designer Donmar Warehouse, West End
2018 Girls & Boys Set Designer The Royal Court Theatre, London
Minetta Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway
2018 The Lehman Trilogy Scenic Design Lyttelton Theatre, West End
2021 Nederlander Theatre, Broadway
2019 The Hunt Scenic Design Almeida Theatre, West End
2024 St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn
2023 The Crucible Scenic Designer Olivier Theatre, West End
2023 Dear England Scenic Designer Olivier Theatre, West End
2023 The Motive and the Cue Scenic Designer Lyttelton Theatre, West End
2024 Noël Coward Theatre, West End
2024 Coriolanus Scenic Designer Olivier Theatre

Television

Year Project Credit Notes
2008 Salome Production designer Television movie
2014 Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream Television movie
2015 Hamlet Television movie
2015 Adele Live in London Television special
Adele Live in New York City Television special
2018 The 60th Annual Grammy Awards Creative director Television special
2021 Adele One Night Only Production designer Television special
2022 The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Creative director Television special
2023 The Weekend Live at SoFi Stadium Production designer Television special
2023 The Crucible Set Decorator National Theatre Live special

Concert

Year Project Artist
2003 Flag: Burning Wire
2005 Touch the Sky Kanye West
2009 VH1 STORYTELLERS Kanye West
2009-2010 Monster Ball US Theatre Tour Lady Gaga
The Resistance Tour Muse
2010 Madrid MTV Europe Music Awards
2011 World Arena Tour Batman Live
Watch The Throne Arena Tour Kanye West & Jay-Z
Progress Stadium Tour Take That
Revel Theatre Kanye West
2013 Hyde Park Rolling Stones
Electric Tour Pet Shop Boys
Yeezus Kanye West
2014 Bangerz World Arena Tour Milly Cyrus
2015 Innocence & Experience World Tour U2
Live in New York Adele
2016 Jimmy Fallon The Weeknd
World Arena Tour Adele
AMAS The Weeknd
Formation World Stadium Tour Beyoncé
2017 Legend of the Fall Tour The Weeknd
GLASTONBURY Lorde
2018 Brit Awards Stormzy
Experience + Innocence Tour U2
Coachella The Weeknd
2021 ONE NIGHT ONLY Adele
2022 Superbowl Half Time Show DR DRE with Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J Blige, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent
After Hours til Dawn The Weeknd
2023 After Hours til Dawn The Weeknd
Renaissance - World Tour Beyoncé
The Sphere U2

Fashion

Year Collaboration Season Notes
2015 Louis Vuitton SS
Series 2
AW
2016 SS
Series 3
AW
Cruise
2020 AW
2021 Chanel Celebration
2022 Dior SS Men
2023 YSL SS Men

Publication

Year Name Publisher Notes
2023 An Atlas of Es Devlin Thames & Hudson

Exhibition

Year Name Location Notes
2023 An Atlas of Es Devlin Cooper Hewitt Museum

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2014 Laurence Olivier Award Best Set Design Chimerica Won
2015 The Nether Won
2016 Hamlet Nominated
2019 The Lehman Trilogy Nominated
2024 Dear England Nominated
2014 Tony Award Best Scenic Design of a Play Machinal Nominated
2016 Best Scenic Design of a Musical American Psycho Nominated
2022 Best Scenic Design of a Play The Lehman Trilogy Won

Personal life

Devlin is married to the theatrical costume designer Jack Galloway; they have two children and live in London. Her husband works on The Lion King Musical franchise.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Es Devlin para niños

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