$H!T THAT AMERICANS LIKE: RIOTS & RALLIES, PARADES & PROTESTS
MICHAEL JONES
$H!T THAT AMERICANS LIKE: RIOTS & RALLIES, PARADES & PROTESTS
MICHAEL JONES Curated by K. Tauches
FEBRUARY 27 - APRIL 1, 2021 GALLERY HOURS: By appointment Tues-Fri, 11am-3pm Open for walk-ins on Saturdays, 11am-3pm To reserve a time, visit www.swangallery.org gallery@swancoachhouse.com // 404.266.2636 3130 Slaton Dr. NW Atlanta, GA, 30305
Michael Jones uses a gritty collage aesthetic to comment on things Americans like in 2021. His latest series, Riots & Rallies, Parades & Protests, conjures a mood of unrest in the country’s streets. The surfaces of his artworks are indeed riotous! Spliced and sampled into multiple layers, viewers will find gesture, portraiture, color, stencils made from found photos, Astroturf, glitter, graphics from printed ephemera, and found objects such as furniture and fragments left on the curb. Known for creating murals the size of buildings, it is no surprise that Jones’ relatively smaller paintings and assemblages pack a punch of energy. The work expresses a point of view rooted in the experiences and observations of a Black man brought up amid the bravado of Texas nationalism. Living and working in the Atlanta art community for decades, he speaks from a place of love and activism at a time of political and social transformation. “Jones gives us an opportunity to think, and even laugh, about the norms of the popular, patriotic past through his timely and often hilarious curation of objects and images. Here’s an artist who identifies equally as a stand-up comic and a speaker of truths.” --K. Tauches, Curator “Americans like. . . to win, to burn things, to dance and sing, to tell jokes, to exploit, to prove points, to build walls. . .They like Red, White & Blue, freedom, football, marching bands, daisy dukes, high security, metal bars, authority and direction, “strong men” who can lead the others, bars to put people behind, to separate and create boundaries with, and bars to drink in, too. Americans like sparks, things that blow up, Fourth of July, cars, guns, exhaust, pollution, the smell of gunsmoke in the morning, entertainment, things that sparkle, things with material status like Mercedes and Cadillacs, ornate things, furniture with mirrors and all this curvy $H!T on it, flowers and gold and gaudy.” --Michael Jones This exhibition is sponsored by The Sara Giles Moore Foundation
Our Gods are Not the Same Mixed media 63.5 x 57 inches 6
Our Gods are Not the Same (detail) 7
8
Blessed with Unrest Mixed media 60 x 48 inches 9
Stop Sign Down Mixed media on paper 57 x 42 inches 10
State of Champion Mixed media on paper 58 x 42 inches 11
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Playing Fields Mixed media 57 x 48 inches 13
Ornate Wilson, The Golden Boy Found objects 50 x 21 x 18 inches 14
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16
17
Oooppqresssettto Found object collage 18.75 x 13.5 inches 18
Oooppqresssettto (alternate view) Found object collage 18.75 x 13.5 inches 19
Strippers on Stilts 2020 Open Bottom? Found object collage 20 x 18 inches 20
Water Babies Found object collage 21.125 x 21 inches 21
Glass Action Figures Found object collage 14.5 x 11.75 inches 22
Playa Popcorn Found object collage 20.125 x 10 inches 23
Paper Hinged Found object collage 16 x 12.75 inches 24
Night Rider Found object collage 16 x 18 inches
25
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It’s hard to see under white sheets Suitcase, suspenders, towel, flag, trap, mixed media 42 x 36 x 28 inches 27
María Korol La Casa Lujosa de Av. Córdoba, 2020 (The Luxurious House on Cordoba Avenue) Ink on paper 47 x 82 inches (unframed) 28
It’s hard to see under white sheets (alternate view) Suitcase, suspenders, towel, flag, trap, mixed media 42 x 36 x 28 inches
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Atomic number 29 Mixed media on paper 30 x 22.5 inches 31
Testimony Mixed media on paper 22.5 x 30 inches
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We Sympathizers Mixed media on paper 22.5 x 30 inches
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Wood People Found object collage 9 x 7.25 inches
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7:00 pm Found object collage 5 x 9.5 inches
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KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN Found object collage 10.25 x 9.75 inches
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Man Made Machine made by hand Red basket, cookie press, Bible, mixed media 32 x 12 inches 39
Funeral (part of a triptych) Each measure 21 x 21 inches, other piece in triptych measures 22.5 x 30 inches Mixed media on paper 40
2020 Used dartboard, AC filter, plastic army men 20 x 20 inches
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No Shoe Left Tongue Tied Mixed media on paper 39.25 x 28 inches 42
Nature of Agenda Mixed media on paper 22.5 x 30 inches
43
Michael Jones Artist Statement
Bio
My life is a collage Sometimes a mirage It may look like dust Or glitter in the mirror. I don’t shine light I’m just very reflective. So what some of may call art Is just a mere reflection of life To critique my work you must first critique life
Michael Jones was born in Dallas, Texas. He relocated to Atlanta, Georgia in 1994, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Painting and Sculpture from Atlanta College of Art (presently SCAD) in 1998. Jones has completed public murals throughout Atlanta and was recently awarded the MARTA Artbound Airport Station Mosaic commission.
$hit that Americans Like An evaluation of life growing up in America from the perception of an individual’s perspective of reality.
In 2018, Jones curated Westside Murals, a collective effort between the community and fourteen emerging Atlanta-based artists. This project brought mural and street art installations onto the interior walls of the self-service car wash bays at the Clean Moto Car Wash in Southwest Atlanta. Jones also completed Butta Upper Westside in 2018, a five-story mural on the parking deck of Broadstone Yards apartment complex in Atlanta’s upper west side. Jones’ Moving Targets series was exhibited at Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama and at Eyedrum in Atlanta. Riots & Rallies, Parades & Protests is
his latest series of work.
Pricelist Our Gods are Not the Same, mixed media, 63.5 x 57 inches, $6,000....................................................................pg 6 Blessed with Unrest, mixed media, 60 x 48 inches, $10,000..................................................................................pg 9 Stop Sign Down, mixed media on paper, 57 x 42 inches, $8,500.........................................................................pg 10 State of Champion, mixed media on paper, 58 x 42 inches, $8,500.....................................................................pg 11 Playing Fields, mixed media, 57 x 48 inches, $8,000...........................................................................................pg 13 Ornate Wilson, The Golden Boy, found objects, 50 x 21 x 18 inches, $3,000......................................................pg 14 Oooppqresssettto, found object collage, 18.75 x 13.5 inches, $1,000..................................................................pg 18 Strippers on Stilts 2020 Open Bottom?, found object collage, 20 x 18 inches, $1,200.........................................pg 20 Water Babies, found object collage, 21.125 x 21 inches, $1,200..........................................................................pg 21 Glass Action Figures, found object collage, 14.5 x 11.75 inches, $1,200..............................................................pg 22 Playa Popcorn, found object collage, 20.125 x 10 inches, $1,000........................................................................pg 23 Paper Hinged, found object collage, 16 x 12.75 inches, $800..............................................................................pg 24 Night Rider, found object collage, 16 x 18 inches, $3,100....................................................................................pg 25 It’s hard to see under white sheets, mixed media, 42 x 36 x 28 in, $3,000...........................................................pg 27 Atomic number 29, mixed media on paper, 30 x 22.5 inches, $3,100...................................................................pg 31 Testimony, mixed media on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches, $2,500................................................................................pg 32 We Sympathizers, mixed media on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches, $2,500..................................................................pg 33 Wood People, found object collage, 9 x 7.25 inches, $600...................................................................................pg 35 7:00 pm, found object collage, 5 x 9.5 inches, $600.............................................................................................pg 36 KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN, found object collage, 10.25 x 9.75 inches, $600.............................................pg 37 Man Made Machine made by hand, red basket, cookie press, Bible, mixed media, 32 x 12 inches, $1,600.....pg 39 Funeral (triptych), 21 x 21 inches each, other piece 22.5 x 30 inches, mixed media on paper, $3,500..............pg 40 2020, used dartboard, AC filter, plastic army men, 20 x 20 inches, $500.............................................................pg 41 No Shoe Left Tongue Tied, mixed media on paper, 39.25 x 28 inches, $3,750....................................................pg 42 Nature of Agenda, mixed media on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches, $2,500....................................................................pg 43
Acknowledgements This exhibition is sponsored by The Sara Giles Moore Foundation Exhibition curated by K. Tauches Catalog designed and created by Michelle Laxalt, Manager, Swan Coach House Gallery Photo credit: Michelle Laxalt, Michael Jones, K. Tauches Installation assistance provided by Michael Fitzgerald and Maria Bruckman, Assistant Manager, Swan Coach House Gallery
$H!T THAT AMERICANS LIKE:
RIOTS & RALLIES, PARADES & PROTESTS FEBRUARY 27 - APRIL 1, 2021
GALLERY HOURS: By appointment Tues-Fri, 11am-3pm Open for walk-ins on Saturdays, 11am-3pm To reserve a time, visit www.swangallery.org gallery@swancoachhouse.com // 404.266.2636 3130 Slaton Dr. NW Atlanta, GA, 30305