Karl Grimes (b. 1955) studied Photography and Communications on a Fulbright Award at New York University and the ICP, New York, graduating with an M.F.A. His work is exhibited and published in the United States and Europe and is represented in a number of international public and private collections. His practice is primarily concerned with the politics and hidden narratives implicit in science, medical, religious and natural history archives.

Previous exhibitions include: National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland – September to November, 2007; Photo Museum Ireland (formerly Gallery of Photography Ireland) – September to November, 2007; Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden. September 2011; Gallery tour: New York, Boston, Providence, Istanbul, Paris. 2008 – 2014; VIAL MEMORY – RELIQUIAE, Mütter Museum Project, Philadelphia, USA. 2008 – 2012; INFECTIOUS – STAY AWAY Science Gallery, Dublin, Ireland – 17 April to 17 July, 2009; NATURE FRAGILE, LE CABINET DEYROLLE, Musée De La Chasse et de la Nature, Paris. Nov 3 – 13, 2008.

Drawing its title from a mnemonic for the Linnaean classification system (Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species), Grimes’s Dignified Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk takes a behind-the-scenes look at the order of nature and display in one of Ireland’s most beloved collections. The work was based on Grimes’s year-long term as artist-in-residence at the Natural History Museum, then celebrating its 150th anniversary, which was supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and the Morris Foundation, USA, and exhibited simultaneously in National Museum of Ireland and Photo Museum Ireland. His works has been purchased for the National Photography Collection at Photo Museum Ireland.