On the Outside Looking In

Tag : fine art materials
Antimodernist

At first glance, "Living Drawing Series I," made me want to labelJones a modernist artist, specifically an Abstract Expressionist,working toward a pure painterly aesthetic on a large, flat surfacedevoid of any other content or meaning. When in fact this work isimbued with message, laden with content and commentary about whatJones thinks is a misconception in our Western culture: the notionthat humans and animals are somehow separate and distinct from oneanother.

Drawn, spilled, spitted, splashed and swirled on a plastic materialknown as Yupo, the materials that make up this work(euphemistically referenced as carbon and water or mixed media)stand as a metaphor for the primordial soup from which Jonesbelieves we all are born.

The plastic surface on which they are mounted does not allow thematerials to absorb or adhere as they might to paper or canvas. ForJones, suspending these materials in a state of limbo adds yetanother dimension to the metaphor making it more alive, morecurrent, more relevant and more accessible. "It is heavy withmeaning," Jones said.

Like an Abstract Expressionist, Jones places extraordinary value onthe materials and the formal aesthetic, but employs them using astrategy that commands our attention go beyond that dimension ofthe work.

Another such strategy is his use of text. Originating from verypersonal journal entries, these elements entice the viewer to stepcloser and engage. Yet, in this living drawing, Jones transcendsthis particularly antimodernist approach, which stems from the1980s concept of mixing visual languages, by relegating thesejournal-like entries to pure graphic elements with no connection toa specific narrative.

But, Who Is His Audience?

Although Phillip March Jones is from Lexington and lives inLexington, he has only recently begun exhibiting his works here."Living Drawing Series I" was part of an exhibition, titled"Wall-to-Wall," held earlier this summer at the Lexington ArtLeague in the Loudoun House Gallery, where he is now included inthe "Election" exhibition on view through August 24th.

Last year, Jones participated in the Woodland Art Fair. Albeit ajoke at first, he has been accepted to exhibit again this year.

At the fair, he earned an award bearing the label "Cutting Edge,"which was in my opinion our local attempt to categorize Jones,nominally placing him at the forefront of something, but alsoholding him carefully at arms' length from the norm.

But Jones does not intend to stay there. He employs techniques thatattract his viewers whether seemingly na