dennis jones at community arts at level one gallery

Mutations

Feb 10, 2022

My paintings are meta portraits, each of the character’s features and bodies are shaped by the destabilization of our current political, social and cultural systems. Each day our world becomes more and more dream-like . . .nightmarish. Surrealism, with its origins in dreams, offers an escapist view from our current descent but still provides a means to activate its effect through visual imagery on our collective and individual psyche. Under the auspices of Surrealism, my paintings are hybridized mutations of Abstraction, Figuration, Cartoons, Graffiti and Street, which emphasize fear and instability and culminate in a sweeping panorama of today.

*all our monsters* 30x36 acrylic, latex, aerosol on canvas

Using black as both negative space and background, the imagery presents from the gloom and allows the brighter colors to pop. The mashup of elements assembled in the lower portion of the canvas weights the composition. all our monsters is a strikingly close depiction of what resided under my childhood bed.

*the distortionist* 38x42 acrylic, aerosol, paint crumbs on canvas

Although Jones is reaching for darkness, the distortionist reads smoother, calmer. The black appears to have been applied last, creating a window into the rolling cadence of color.

*the hollow one* 68x72 acrylic, aerosol, paint crumbs on canvas

All I can see in the hollow one is that eye. The image looks like a giant egg clutch just as tadpoles or fish are getting ready to emerge. The progeny swirls and floats, waiting to issue forth into the murky space.

*portrait of a dickhead* 38x38 acrylic, latex, aerosol on canvas

Creepy AF.

*make the best of what is still around* 84x62 acrylic, latex, aerosol, paint and canvas crumbs on canvas

A foil in the melancholia. Similar in execution to the rest of the show, this piece adds warmer tones to soften the delivery. It still drips and rolls while using the familiar black to keep the viewer from getting too enthusiastic.

I’ve never been accused of being a Pollyanna, but even my vision isn’t quite this grim. There’s no doubt the ugly and the tragic exist. But when the pendulum swings dark, there are always humans whose infinite alacrity breaks through to draw us back to the light. One of my criteria for ‘is it art?’ is does it illicit a visceral response? Mission accomplished. I’ve been watching nothing but the Hallmark Channel since I saw this show ‘cuz damn.

On view through March 28th at Community Arts inside Level One Bank 22635 Woodward Ave Ferndale

*images are mine.