"Two Citizens of East Lansing," ca. 1948-1953. Lacquer on masonite.
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Murray Jones (1915-1964) exemplifies that moment in American art history when artists turned radically inward to express their personal struggles with the world instead of an enjoyable view of it. And so he did both—moving back and forth among surrealist, Constructivist, abstract expressionist styles and a sentimental regionalism (his region being the Midwest, especially Chicago since he studied at the Art Institute). Near the end his life, he also spent a year in Kyoto, where he developed a strong affinity for a more positive, Japanese aesthetic of peaceful, beautiful surfaces. This retrospective shows work from all the styles through which he passed, but especially enjoyable to this viewer was the work he did after he visited Japan, including a return to Regionalism, where he really put his painterly, expressive skills to work in crafting some delightful images of the urban Midwest. Also showing in the gallery are two colorful nightclub scenes from another Chicago painter of that time, the legendary Archibald Motley. Be sure to see them both. (Chris Miller)
Artful Dodger: A Review of Kelly Kristin Jones at 062 In "We forgot the moon while holding up the sun," we witness a return to the self, a more personal reckoning of sorts, that has come to the artist at a time where public spaces are devoid of publics and the private has returned to being sanctuary.
