Jesse Bonnell is a Creative Capital Award-winning artist, director, and multidisciplinary practitioner whose work merges experimental theater, performance, film, and design. His work has been hailed as "a profound experience" by the Los Angeles Times. His practice investigates memory, mythology, and cultural history through long-term research, collaboration, and the development of new work. Bonnell creates immersive theatrical experiences that blur the boundaries between performance, installation, cinema, and live art.

Grounded in a belief that theater can function as both an archaeological and speculative act, Bonnell's projects explore verbal histories, archival material, the dramatic canon, and non-theatrical texts, challenging conventional narratives. His work frequently unfolds through extended periods of rehearsal, experimentation, and collective authorship.

Presented across theaters, galleries, museums, and public spaces, his work spans large-scale live performances, experimental films, multimedia installations, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

His work has been presented at institutions such as REDCAT, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, South Coast Rep, The Getty Villa, The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (EMPAC) and the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAPUCLA). Internationally, his work has been presented in Italy, Croatia, Poland, and Serbia, including B.I.T.E.F. Theater, Valjevo National Theatre,  Uzice National Theatre, Pula International Theater Festival and the International Grotowski Festival.

Bonnell has received major support from Theater Communications Group (TCG), United States Embassy Belgrade, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, The Grotowski Institute, The Ahmanson Foundation, Center for Cultural Innovation ARC, Creative Capacity Fund, Next Gen Arts Grant, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Dutch Cultural Consulate, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Foundation for Contemporary Art, Fondazione Elpisand and Creative Capital. 

He has been awarded a MacDowell Fellowship, and has received residency support from The Chocolate Factory, The Mercury Store, Castello San Basilio, REDCAT, Yaddo, Rotterdamse Schouwburg, Headlands Center for the Arts, Abrons Art Center and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. His work has been written about in the American Theater Magazine, Theater Magazine, Beautiful Savage Magazine, and Theater Journal. Bonnell is an Acting Company Alumni founded by John Housman at Juilliard. Bonnell co-founded  Poor Dog Group, a contemporary theater collective based in Los Angeles, with which he served as Lead Artist from 2008-2018. Bonnell earned an MFA from CalArts for which he received the prestigious Lilian Disney Scholarship Award. He has given art talks about his work on collectivity at NYU Theater and Health Forum and CCA Annual Conference.  He is a recurring guest lecturer at NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Most recently he developed a new work based on the films and memoir of Andy Warhol titled, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol – which was developed at the University of Rochester International Theater Program. 

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In 2020 Bonnell started, Foghorn Studio to house his various design projects.