Otis Jones

“Devoid of pictorial motifs, narratives and at times even color, the work of Texas-based artist Otis Jones is muted yet intensely physical, and stubbornly original. Shunning the grandiose, Jones’ interests lie in the most basic essentials: the relationship of form, composition and color, and the subtle nuances that give his paintings marvelous character.” – John Yau (OTIS JONES: SELECTED WORKS 1981-2020, p: 3-7, published by Marc Straus Gallery 2020).

Jones is expanding on the classic minimalist form of monochrome painting. The celebration of the process is the highlight of each piece. In his sculptural paintings the canvas is affixed to asymmetrical structures, pieces of plywood built up in layers four to six inches deep. The roughly cut canvas is visibly attached with staples. Then it is painted and often scoured back with sanding.

Each painting conveys its sense of history. Yau observed that by “focusing on the painting process as its own subject, Jones’ work attains an ineffable aura of permanence. Personal, spiritual and full of eccentricities, they promote a meditative perception synonymous with the best Abstract paintings.”

While at first appearing monochromatic, closer inspection reveals meticulously balanced combinations of colors as in Ellsworth Kelly’s earlier work. Though wholly intuitive the placement of circles and lines, the precise proportions of diameter and spacing, creates a sense of harmony. In this new body of work Jones explores new shapes and colors while working within his decades-long motif.

Born in Galveston, Texas in 1946, Jones received his B.F.A from Kansas State University in 1969, and his M.F.A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1972. He was the 1982 recipient of a Visual Artists Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and has taught at Texas Christian University, the University of Texas at Austin and has served as an Associate Professor and Visiting Professor at University of Texas at Arlington. Jones’ work is found in many prestigious public and private collections such as the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Dallas Museum of Art, MFA Houston, San Antonio Museum of Art, Tyler Museum of Art, the Witte Museum, the CAB Foundation (Brussels), and MIT List Center for Visual Arts.