Salon Highlight

Louis Buhl Gallery

Detroit, MI

September 23 - November 8, 2023

The presented series draws attention to moments of Jones’ everyday life. Their compositions are based on photographs that Jones took herself, the documentary act existing at the root of her practice. One exception is “Discovery,” which is inspired by an old photograph of her mother, pregnant with Jones at the time, alongside her brother at the Huntington Library in Los Angeles, California, a museum known for it’s vast botanical gardens that she used to visit as a child. Jones’s affinity for painting botanical subjects stems from a lifelong love of floral textile patterns. The flower motif is one that Jones has long explored as an artist, particularly in her mural work. Since shifting a greater focus to her studio practice in recent years, however, her subject matter naturally expanded, as well. For example, “Adult Fun” illustrates an array of canned alcoholic beverages lining the shelves of a local grocery store, in all of their strategically captivating branding caught her attention for their position as an emblem of contemporary culture and consumerism.

The aforementioned paintings, concentrated on idyllic aesthetics—whether depictions of objects we admire for their beauty or ones we value for enjoyment—are juxtaposed with grittier scenes, such as a perished bird in “Spring is Here,” or a group of overflowing trash cans in “Influencers.” These apparent contradictions—of life and death, of consumer products and garbage, of the organic and the synthetic—reflect the complexities and circular nature of mankind. A hierarchy amongst the paintings does not exist; Jones approaches each canvas with an equal treatment of detail, fascination and dedication. This interplay exemplifies the artist’s interest with the emotional impacts of her subjects. Her concern extends beyond mere appearances to the sensations they evoke, which can manifest in anything we confront on a daily basis. Jones's art then becomes a method for dissecting and contemplating these visceral experiences.

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Isn't It Romantic

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10,000 Flowers