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Ben Jones views himself as ‘a global artist’; he is undoubtedly one of the most important African-American artists of his generation. His work

attempts to connect spiritual concerns with those of politics, instilling in viewers a greater awareness of world issues.

Evolution-Revolution is the first major international display of works to be shown in Rich Mix’s newly renovated gallery space. Jones’s belief that ‘politics is a part of life and a part of art, you can’t separate the two’ reverberates throughout his Wallpaper-Series (2010). He depicts a profoundly dystopian landscape under the guise of domestic utopia; thus confronting our sense of security and physical distance from global conflict and political violence.

The exhibition is composed of nine vast acrylic panels alongside twenty smaller drawings on paper. Despite their recent execution, each work demonstrates Jones’s continued interest in exploring contemporary contextual concerns through the medium of collage, texture and symbolic colour. The viewer is drawn into a complex pictorial surface, layered in symbolism, ico-nography and prose. Jones remains faithful to a doctrine of examining political realities against the backdrop of our planet’s precarious ecological state. Thank you BP (2010) wryly details the clash between corporate business and the natural world; Jones pays ironic tribute to suppos-edly ‘friendly’ branding by juxtaposing the logos of Shell, BP, and Gulf against the ecological background such brands are plundering.

Denise Tansley’s poem Mother Earth is interwoven amidst the background of Envision, Empower, Embrace; the lines ‘Will no one stand up for me (…) I give you air to breath the life that feeds’ poignantly confront the viewer with our tendency to disregard the natural world that has given us life. Jones’s symbolic use of colour is also a poignant feature within the series, and the body of his work as a whole. Many of the paintings feature blood like red tones, which he employs in a religious sense to suggest our need to ‘cleanse and sanctify (…) as opposed to being destructive’, and the need for purification within our degenerate political and sociological beliefs. The greens and blues these tones are juxtaposed with literally and metaphorically serve to represent nature and the environment.

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In February Eleanor Taylor moved into the realm of the artistic for a review of Ben

Jones’s exhibition ‘Evolution-Revolution’ at Rich Mix gallery, which incorporated various literary and ecological themes relevant to society today.

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”EVOLUTION- REVOLUTION

@ RICH MIX GALLERY

by Eleanor Taylor

REVIEWS

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Jones addresses such serious topical issues in a subterranean manner. For from afar, these large canvases look like genial abstract prints, but upon closer examination their true message and meaning is revealed. Further to this, each canvas appears to be formally composed, but up close their creation from multiple layers of splashes, marks, stains and symbols is evident, along with Jones’s utilization of quotations from historical and literary figures.

The exhibition is a testament to activism in art and a thought provoking success. As an artist Jones stands for the moral message of Evolution-Revolution, remarking ‘I don’t do this because I think that my art will change the world, I’m simply doing my part. We have a choice to act’. His call for justice and a greater concern for our planet works to impress upon the viewer our need to protect and bring to justice all forms of tyranny, within both the political and natural worlds.