Richard John Jones
06 Jun - 19 Jul 2014
RICHARD JOHN JONES
Blending Blending Never Ending
6 June - 19 July 2014
Galerie Fons Welters is happy to invite you to Richard John Jones exhibition ‘Blending Blending Never Ending’, which is part of the yearly Sandberg Institute graduation ‘Festival of Choices’.
‘Hiding things in plain sight’ would be one way of describing Jones’ practice. Through his performances and installations, Jones addresses contemporary notions of camouflage as a material and aesthetic strategy for withdrawal, yet also how it might relate to claims for recognition and representation. Camouflage as a ‘military technology’ is inextricably linked with the military industrial complex, landscape and territory. As technology changes, camouflage changes, indirectly referencing how the act of looking, or bearing witness, is also in constant flux.
Upon arriving at the gallery, flags with colourfully abstracted texts and patterns, mark the entrance. As we enter, we appear to be “back stage” or at least, in the shadows. Partially transparent curtains filter the light, casting deep projections on the walls. Bodies and space become obscured yet at the same time our movements take centre stage. Moving further, entering the light, we are confronted with other bodies, embellished in folkloric costumes. The garments correspond to narratives and stories stemming from research related to the Radical Faeries, a counter-cultural queer commune movement that emerged in California in the late 1970s. Through employing intensive craft processes and juxtaposing ideas of performativity with politics of refusal and withdrawal, Jones considers what it means to take care of minor histories and how these might be disseminated without requiring full-disclosure.
Richard John Jones is based in Amsterdam. Until May 2012 he was the Co-Director of artist-run project space Auto Italia South East in London. His work has been featured at institutions such as ICA London, Arnolfini, Bristol; The Power Plant, Toronto; Les Complices, Zurich, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Centro Cultural Sao Paulo and the British Film Institute, London.
Blending Blending Never Ending
6 June - 19 July 2014
Galerie Fons Welters is happy to invite you to Richard John Jones exhibition ‘Blending Blending Never Ending’, which is part of the yearly Sandberg Institute graduation ‘Festival of Choices’.
‘Hiding things in plain sight’ would be one way of describing Jones’ practice. Through his performances and installations, Jones addresses contemporary notions of camouflage as a material and aesthetic strategy for withdrawal, yet also how it might relate to claims for recognition and representation. Camouflage as a ‘military technology’ is inextricably linked with the military industrial complex, landscape and territory. As technology changes, camouflage changes, indirectly referencing how the act of looking, or bearing witness, is also in constant flux.
Upon arriving at the gallery, flags with colourfully abstracted texts and patterns, mark the entrance. As we enter, we appear to be “back stage” or at least, in the shadows. Partially transparent curtains filter the light, casting deep projections on the walls. Bodies and space become obscured yet at the same time our movements take centre stage. Moving further, entering the light, we are confronted with other bodies, embellished in folkloric costumes. The garments correspond to narratives and stories stemming from research related to the Radical Faeries, a counter-cultural queer commune movement that emerged in California in the late 1970s. Through employing intensive craft processes and juxtaposing ideas of performativity with politics of refusal and withdrawal, Jones considers what it means to take care of minor histories and how these might be disseminated without requiring full-disclosure.
Richard John Jones is based in Amsterdam. Until May 2012 he was the Co-Director of artist-run project space Auto Italia South East in London. His work has been featured at institutions such as ICA London, Arnolfini, Bristol; The Power Plant, Toronto; Les Complices, Zurich, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Centro Cultural Sao Paulo and the British Film Institute, London.