Joey
Jones: Recent Works October 4 – November
10, 2012
Perspective Gallery
Squires Student Center Virginia Tech
You are invited to attend the gallery reception on Friday October 12 from 5-7. Free and open to the public, this event is a great opportunity to meet Joey Jones, see and buy great art, hear great live music by Bernie Coveney who played guitar with Grammy Award winner, Emmylou Harris, eat great local food and to meet new friends!
Joey
Jones’ pottery can be quite shocking, or it can be hilarious. It depends on your point of view; much like
the glass being half empty or half full.
It is the viewer who ultimately makes the decision on what the art is
about.
After
we stop being in shock or laughing hysterically, we can settle down and begin
to be curious and think about Joey’s use of anthropomorphic animals in his
sculptural pottery. In Appalachia and
the Blue Ridge, the use of storytelling to make a point is historical. The oral tradition runs deeply in many families
along the mountain ridges, valleys, and hollows, of this region, and stories
about “big fish” and “coon dogs” prevail, often times ending with a fable-like
lesson for the listeners to ponder.
Beginning
life in rural Franklin county Virginia, Joey was born into a family of tobacco
farmers. Jones studied under master
potter Ken Ferguson at Kansas City Art Institute and won awards for his ceramic
pieces while earning his Bachelor in Fine Arts degree. He worked towards his Masters in Fine Arts at
San Jose State, but left at the end of his studies because he was not
interested in being a part of the over-intellectualization of his work
anymore. There he was known for his
large sculptural pieces and provocative art.
But a move back to his roots in the Blue Ridge was the next step he
made, and here he has remained.
Joey
Jones uses the tradition of storytelling without the verbal aspect. The work, created through years of study and
hours in the studio is a pure expression of story-telling. “The hounds are me.
They tell the story of my life and how I’m seeing it.” What the rest of the animals are telling you
is for you to determine.
Therefore viewer, you are challenged to move past your comfort
zone and to take some moments (probably more than we’re used to in our
multi-tasking lives), to stand in one place and to consider the works in this
exhibit. Be brave and allow yourself the
chance to confront our humanness through these art works, and perhaps a
fable-like lesson will reveal itself through your ponderings.
No comments:
Post a Comment