Otis Jones, “New Work”
by John Zotos
Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Exhibition continues through November 23, 2024
November 9, 2024
Otis Jones, “Blue Shape with Black and White Circles,” 2024, acrylic on linen on wood, 47 x 70 x 4”.
All images courtesy of Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas.
Otis Jones is well into his fifth decade as an artist whose instructive and penetrating approach to abstraction never seems to run out of steam. Back in the 1970’s when Jones was getting his start, Minimalism was in vogue and holdouts faithful to abstract expressionism were still active. His mature personal style retains these two strains, also displaying an interest in the natural world, as well as in architecture and design.
Jones maintains an abstract surface entirely devoid of reference to the world, either as window or as mirror. His interest in the spare, reductive surfaces of Minimalism ends where the tendency manifests as an anonymous object devoid of the human touch. Jones revels in an obsessive handling of various media that he builds up layer upon layer, sanding, cutting, and polishing the surface as he goes. Jones’ paintings reify their status as objects via a combination of handmade volumetric wooden supports, intended as a visual part of the finished product, and canvas affixed to the surface that reveals traces of glue and visible staples. All of this emphasis on material eliminates any hint of illusion. Taken together, these elements invite us to imagine his process and perspective on material reality.
Otis, Jones, “Red Oxide with Red Circle Black Edge,” 2023, acrylic on linen on wood, 47 x 44 x 5”.
The eight paintings that comprise this exhibition were all executed over the last year. The shapes Jones chooses for the pieces’ approximate circles, squares, or rectangles; none is geometrically precise, none makes any attempt to reflect mathematical precision. They are odd and inexplicable in their visual effect, exactly as he intends them to be.
Otis Jones, “Tan with Black and Red Circles,” 2024, acrylic on canvas on wood, 40 x 39 x 4”.
The largest work in the exhibition, at 47 by 70 by 4 inches, “Blue Shape with Black and White Circles” is an imperfect rectangle that, when viewed directly, reveals a perimeter bound by a thin line of unprimed canvas that encloses a sea of light blue. At the top left, a black circle has been placed by the artist, made from a layer of paint cut from a sample taken from a separate section of pigment. A complementary white circle was harvested in the same way and placed toward the upper right as a visual foil that unbalances the composition. For Jones symmetry is counter-intuitive; his aesthetic sensibility calls for a combination of shapes and outlines that fit into the sort of whole that challenges our expectations. The effect is to produce a sense of surprise and revelation.
Otis Jones, “White Square with Two Lines,” 2024, acrylic on canvas on wood, 24 x 24 x 5”. Front and side views.
Where “Blue Shape with Black and White Circles” is light and airy, the roughly oval-shaped painting, “Red Oxide with Red Circle Black Edge,” is heavy-seeming, like a slab of stone. The red oxide color fills the surface and shows how the artist has dealt vigorously with the surface. Alternating sections of brushwork, sanded areas, and polished phrases abound, leaving a small but bright red circle placed off-center to float in a turbulent sea of paint.
The other paintings here operate between the two compositional poles framed by these two mysterious pieces. Taken as a whole, this group is among Jones’ best work of his career — something that can rarely be said about a mature artist so late in his career.
