Chris Jones & Clive Smith: From Cellar to Garret
MARC STRAUS is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of recent works by Chris Jones and Clive Smith. Entitled From Cellar to Garret, the exhibition is inspired by Gaston Bachelard's book Poetics of Space and explores the significance of different spaces within architectural structures and how they shape our perceptions and experiences.
Referring to the entirety of a building, from the lowest to the highest point, the phrase “from the cellar to the garret” naturally contrasts the cellar with the garret (or attic); the cellar can be seen as a metaphor for the raw, introspective, and subconscious realm, whereas the attic symbolizes height, openness, and even transcendence. The cellar has a damp, dark connection to the ground and the garret to the light, open sky.
Through the lens of two distinct yet complementary artistic practices, Chris Jones and Clive Smith explore these physical and psychological spaces where someone, or some things, are often isolated from public view. In what has become his signature style of sculptural collage, Chris Jones’ New Antiques and Music Room (both 2024) group collections of reborn objects like vases and violins arranged in miniature domestic rooms. As voyeurs of sorts, Clive Smith’s meticulously painted doves and pigeons in Sky Stack (2024) and Bierstadt Dove (2023) are perched in trompe-l’œil cocklofts watching and waiting, just out of reach from what may be occurring in all of those spaces below.
Chris Jones earned an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, London 2002. Jones was awarded an artist residency at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (Peekskill, NY) in 2008, followed by a solo show at the museum. Jones has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. Notable museum presentations include the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, NYU, New York; The Oakland University Art Gallery, Michigan; Prague Biennial; Manchester Art Gallery; and the Knoxville Art Museum.
Clive Smith (b. 1967, St. Albans, England) lives and works in New York. In 1999 he won First Prize, BP Portrait Award, at London’s National Portrait Gallery. He has had numerous museum exhibitions that include the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK. His work is in many public collections such as in the Cleveland Museum of Art, US; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, KC, US; and the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, April 25, from 4 to 7 PM. Gallery opening hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 6 PM. For visuals and additional press information please contact lilly@marcstraus.com or 212.510.7646.
