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Artist Exhibitions:
Selected One person
Exhibitions
2007 Dennis Michael Jones,
Oakland University Art
Gallery, Oakland University,
Rochester, MI
2006 Featured Artist, Kraft
Lieberman Gallery, Chicago,
IL.
2004 Dennis Michael Jones,
Paintings, Drawings and
Sculptures, Robert Kidd
Gallery, Birmingham, MI.
2003 Playground, 4731 Gallery,
Detroit, MI.
Child's Play, Cass Café,
Detroit, MI.
...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Kraft Lieberman Gallery,
Chicago, IL.
www.klfinearts.com
The Drawing Center Slide
Registry, New York, NY.
www.drawingcenter.org
Artist Space Artists File, New
York, NY.
www.artistspace.org...
Further Information
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Artist Reviews:
Fundamental(ist) Exhibition
Catalog, published by Oakland
University Art Gallery. 25
images and an essay by Dick
Goody, Gallery Curator.
The Detroiter,
www.thedetroiter.com, Day of
the Dead, 11/29/06 by Nick
Sousanis
Dehuman Exhibition Catalog,
published by the Thames
Gallery, Chatham Ontario,
Canada. With an essay by ...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Kraft Lieberman Gallery,
Chicago, IL.
www.klfinearts.com
The Drawing Center Slide
Registry, New York, NY.
www.drawingcenter.org
Artist Space Artists File, New
York, NY.
www.artistspace.org...
Further Information
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|
Artist Reviews:
Fundamental(ist) Exhibition
Catalog, published by Oakland
University Art Gallery. 25
images and an essay by Dick
Goody, Gallery Curator.
The Detroiter,
www.thedetroiter.com, Day of
the Dead, 11/29/06 by Nick
Sousanis
Dehuman Exhibition Catalog,
published by the Thames
Gallery, Chatham Ontario,
Canada. With an essay by ...
Further Information
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Artist Statement for Dennis Jones
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This statement adresses my current text work in drawings and paintings;
¡just the tip¡
The title of this show is from the three hundred and first drawing completed in this series. The clich¨¦d statement, "just the tip of the iceberg", summarizes the many thoughts that go unspoken and lie beneath the surface ¨Dthat there is much effort that goes unseen and suggests that there is more to follow, which is very appropriate for this new body of work as this series now includes over 600 drawings and continues to grow.
This series of charcoal drawings focuses on the discourse that takes place between me and the work at hand. Visual objects have their own language ¨D they're easy to talk about if you¡¯re talking to yourself, but become elusive when another's eyes are involved. Many diverse thoughts surface as I'm working and instead of ignoring them I've decided to write them down. These thoughts are directly related to the ups and downs I've experienced as an artist; they are an accumulation of my anger, frustration, anxiety, ambivalence, skepticism, delusions, discontent, absurdity and humor in response to this life and time ¨D I want to include it all! I'm intrigued by the way the drawings talk with each other and how they speak to notions that are far larger than me alone as the dialogue expands to suggest a panoramic view of human interactions.
My reciting of the text from one drawing to the next is another layer of communication ¨Djust who am I talking to you might ask? Instead of screaming I've attempted to subdue the inflection in my voice as I read each statement aloud and my voice sounds almost mechanical. I think it necessary to present such potentially histrionic verbiage with a measure of restraint.
Perhaps you may feel offended by many of the inflammatory statements that sound pathologically driven and include a litany of psychological, sociological, sexual, religious, philosophical, political and cultural references, but try to keep the words within my intended art world context and you may find yourself laughing out loud ¨D and maybe you will agree that this is the most human thing anyone can do.
Dennis Michael Jones
The following statement addresses the toyland installation and related pieces;
My work expresses a sense of play, wonder, delight and discovery. These thoughts and emotions are directly expressed with a simplified color palette and the varied presence of a child-like figure. The figures suggest an innocence and hopefulness of childhood - they are my progeny - a metaphor for the creation and realization of ideas - and avatar for the artist as a perpetual child. I think of this work as a kind of memorial to these sentiments.
With the realization the figures are also small toys to be manipulated, trophies to ambition and vanity, or puppets to be controlled, an undercurrent of irony surfaces as the installation comments on the formation of identity and a creative process that has become corrupted, where innocence and naivet - are doubtful possibilities - I wonder if we're better off to remain wishful and dreaming in a child-like bliss?
I find meaning in the ambiguities, ambivalences and paradoxes inherent to life as an artist in the early twenty-first century. Above all, my intention is to make work that stirs an inquiry into our identity that impacts our contemporary existence.
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