Matt Jones’ paintings and drawings use imagery rooted in the real world to create an environment of his own making that evokes a sense of magic, fantasy, and storytelling. In this peculiar piece, Mischief, we see the artist breaking out of the picture plane to produce a sculptural scene that might be best enjoyed by a hookah-smoking insect or family of Gnomes. In his previous experiments with sculpy, Jones allowed the material’s rawness to remain visible, but in Mischief, the artist adds his keen sense of color and mark making to create an object that expands on his playful interplay of reality and imagination.
Jones has had one or two person shows at Galerie Jerome Pauchant (Paris), Freight + Volume Gallery (New York), Horton Gallery (Berlin), Castor Gallery (New York), The Richard Massey Foundation (New York), Bleecker Street Art Club (New York), and Buia Gallery (New York). He has participated in NADA Miami (The Hole, New York), Spring Break Art Fair (Old School, Brooklyn), Miami Project (Driscoll Babcock, New York) and a solo presentation at Art Brussels (Bodson Gallery, Brussels). His work has been displayed in group shows at Robert Miller (New York), Anonymous (Mexico City), Driscoll Babcock Gallery (New York), ADA Gallery (Richmond, VA), Dorfman Projects (New York), Tibet House (New York), The Varsity (Brooklyn), Galleri Geo (Bergan, Norway), Grey East (East Hampton, NY), The Artbridge Drawing Room (New York), Gildar Gallery (Beverly Hills, CA), Fiebach Minninger (Cologne), Exit Art (New York), and The Hole (New York). He has done performances with Anonymous (Mexico City), Artist Space (New York), and Creative Time (New York).
Matt Jones attended the Yale University School of Art—Norfolk on an Ellen Battell Stoeckel Grant (2001), received a BFA from Cooper Union (2002), and recently completed an MFA at Hunter College (2021). In 2007 he founded Puppy American, a small independent press which publishes artist books, zines, poetry, and organizes exhibitions, focusing on collaboration. He lives and works in New York City.