Artist CV
Jo Cope
Born 1972, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Profile
Jo Cope is an artist working with sculpture, performance, film and participatory practice. Using footwear as a central conceptual device, her work examines embodied experience, gendered labour, feminist politics, social agency and decision‑making. Cope’s practice is grounded in craft methodologies, which she employs critically and subversively to question systems of value, care, endurance and power.
Education
2015–2016 MA Fashion Artefacts, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London – Distinction
2003–2006 BA (Hons) Fashion Design, Nottingham Trent University – First Class Honours
2002–2003 Art and Design Foundation, Distinction
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 No Woman Is an Island of Shoes, Galerija Velenje, Slovenia
2024–2025 The Path Is a Metaphor, Shoe Museum, Portugal
2023–2024 The Wisdom Is in Your Feet, The Hub, Sleaford, UK
2022–2023 Only Shoes Can Save Us Now, The Gallery, Leicester, UK
Selected Performances and Installations
2021 The Feminist Rose, installation and live performance, London Craft Week, The Garden Museum, London
2021 Walking on Water, live performance, Venice Design Biennale, T Fondaco Dei Tedeschi, Venice
2019 The Language of Feet, installation and performance, London Design Festival, The Vinyl Factory, London
2018 Lessons in Love, installation and live performance, London Craft Week, YKK Showroom, London
2017 Live performance commission, Material Movement Gala,
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 Visions in the Nunnery, Nunnery Gallery, London
2025–2026 Made in the Middle, Craftspace touring exhibition (Leicester Gallery, The Hub Sleaford, MAC Birmingham)
2023 Shoe Fantasies, Pecs Gallery, Hungary
2022 Fitting In, Z33 – House of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture, Hasselt, Belgium
2020 The History of Shoes, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
2019 Fashion Artefacts: Why / What / Who, Decorative Arts Museum, Argentina
2019 Innovative Costume in the 21st Century, State Museum of Russia
2018 Motive/Motif, commissioned artist marking 100 years of the Suffragette Movement; touring venues including Buckingham Palace, London
2017 Shoe Magic, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest
Public Collections
Galerija Velenje, Slovenia
Northampton Boot and Shoe Museum
Museu do Calçado, Portugal / Shoe Museum
Curated and Collaborative Projects
2024 Accessories of Activism, London Fashion Week Exhibition, YKK Showroom, London (Jo Cope × Shelter)
2022 Shoes Have Names, New Brewery Arts, Cirencester (Jo Cope × Shelter)
2021 Wherever I Lay My Hat, Coal Drops Yard, London Craft Week (Jo Cope × Shelter)
Publications
Cope, J. (2020)
Disarmed: Lasting Impressions.
In: Townsend, K., Solomon, R., Briggs‑Goode, A. (eds.)
Crafting Anatomies: Archives, Dialogues, Fabrications.
London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
(Chapter 3, in conversation with Johannes Reponen).
Cope, J. (2025)
Shoes always point where we wish to go.
Interview with Natascha Radclyffe‑Thomas.
International Journal of Sustainable Fashion & Textiles, 4(1). Intellect Books. (Cover feature).
Hi‑Fructose, New Contemporary Fashion, Hi‑Fructose Books, 2019. (Featured artist).
Selected Interviews & Features
Interview with Jo Cope, Crafts magazine (Crafts Council), interview by Hettie Jago, c. 2024
Q&A with Jo Cope, Sludge Magazine, interview by Martyn Ewoma, c. 2024.
Best Foot First: Interview with Jo Cope, The Costume Society, 2023.
Contributor Spotlight: Jo Cope, Footwear Research Network, 2022.
Selected Talks and Lectures
2026- Practice Talk and Conceptual workshop - John Moores University, Liverpool
2025 - Nothing Fest The Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design at BNU, Guest Speaker - Pakistan
2025 Designing From Your Emotions, Shoe Museum, Portugal
2025 Sustainability Conference, Barbican Arts Centre, Lincolnshire
2024 Neocraft Series, Guest Lecture, Istituto Marangoni
2023 Shoes as Vessels for Social Change, Nottingham Trent University
2022 Fashion for Social Change, RMIT University, Melbourne
2022- Manchester Research conference, Guest Speaker, invited by Fiona Hackney
2021 Panel Discussion, London Craft Week, The Garden Museum
Awards, Memberships and Positions
2025 Global Footwear Award – Winner, Social Impact Category
2006 IFTTI Fashion Film Award – Winner
Honorary Member, Design Nation UK
Invited Member, Footwear Research Network
Graduate Fashion Week Foundation – Award Judge
Board Member, BNU Pakistan
De Montfort University Research and Teaching Award for Social Practice, 2022