Paintings from Coogee catalogue foreword
'Painting 140 (Dunningham Reserve)', 2015, acrylic on linen, 117.5cm x 112cm
Paintings from Coogee
Alan Jones: Paintings from Coogee, 26 August -13 September 2015, Olsen Irwin, Sydney
Over the past decade or so Alan Jones has been interested in ideas that surround notions of identity, as ‘people and place’ have become reoccurring themes in his work.
In 2014 Jones and his young family moved to Coogee. Jones chooses to take a personal approach to subject matter. In ‘Paintings from Coogee’ he has chosen to use Coogee beach and the parkland of Dunningham Reserve at north Coogee as the starting point and inspiration for this new series of paintings. His unique self-portraits suggest a time for personal reflection whilst simultaneously inviting the viewer to bring their own perspective to the painting. Self-portraits can be seen in the form of two small black and white heads - textured craniums poised above the landscape, the artist placing himself into his environment.
In 1997 Jones gained his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School in Sydney. Jones has since furthered his education abroad as the recipient of the 1997 Inaugural Pat Corrigan Travelling Art Scholarship and 2004 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. Since 2008, Alan Jones has won the Kedumba Drawing Award, Paddington Art Prize, Kilgour Prize and, most recently, the 2015 Mosman Art Prize.
Paintings from Coogee
26 August -13 September 2015
Olsen Irwin, Sydney, Australia
