LONDON.- Dulwich Picture Gallery presents Gated Canyons, an exhibition by acclaimed artist Rachel Jones and the first solo show by a contemporary artist in the Gallery’s main exhibition space. Renowned for her expressive choreography of abstract and figurative motifs, distinctive approach to colour and use of un-stretched canvases, Jones engages with painting as a multi-sensory language.

This exhibition will include a newly commissioned body of work, comprising eight large-scale and six smaller works, in addition to selected paintings created during the last seven years of Jones’ practice.

Jones’ works will appear in dialogue with Flemish artist Pieter Boel’s Head of a Hound (c. 1660–5). This painting from Dulwich Picture Gallery’s Collection, most likely a preparatory study for a larger work by Boel, resonated with ongoing preoccupations in Jones’ practice and acted as a point of departure for the new commissions.

Spanning four rooms, the exhibition is curated thematically to highlight different facets of Jones’ distinct visual language. Its oxymoronic title, Gated Canyons – which is also that of each of the new works – evokes ideas of spaces that are simultaneously closed off and expansive; excluding and liberating.

The exhibition explores the ways in which Jones articulates intense emotions both through her use of colour and recurrent motifs such as the mouth, which act as a crucial and continuous source of inspiration. The new works represent a shift in Jones’ practice. Where in previous works these motifs might have remained amorphous and abstract, here she incorporates a more distinctly legible figuration into her abstractions.

Jones’ compulsive return to the mouth as a subject – a body part steeped in historical, social and cultural meaning – evolves as a metaphorical and literal portal to our inner selves. As well as responding to the duality of the dog’s mouth in Boel’s Head of a Hound, which evokes feelings of teetering between tension and sensitivity, Jones has also drawn on references from cartoons such as Looney Tunes. Investigating the exaggerated and expressive nature of cartoon characters and the architecture of their worlds, she considers how landscapes and colours morph and collapse in response to the emotions characters feel, exploring the space between our environment and our feelings.

By introducing a new motif of bricks in the works, Jones develops the lexicon of symbolism in her paintings. These recognisable shapes reflect the impact of the exterior world on the interior, and the relationship between public and private realms. They situate Jones’ motif of mouths within landscapes that draw on elements from the real world, whilst remaining firmly rooted in the realm of the imaginary.

Working in layers of oil stick and oil pastel, materials which lend themselves to her instinctive, intuitive mark-making, Jones blends colour in surprising and sometimes unsettling ways. The exhibition continues the explorations of Jones’ recent solo show !!!!! at the Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, where she began working on linen canvases, intentionally leaving parts of the material exposed. Her new commissions push this exploration further, using the weave and tone of the visible linen as a new direction in her use – and non-use – of colour. Acting as a starting point, this ‘breathing space’ adds a new sense of vulnerability to the paintings, while Jones’ palette has also expanded to become increasingly tender, including candied and pastel tones of pinks and purples.

Rachel Jones said: “The repetition of a mouth filled with teeth is how I play with, subdue, elevate or put meaning and content into ideas around representations of self and Blackness. It’s both specific and very general. Using a work from the Collection as a prompt for these works has significantly deepened my relationship to the history of images, their context and the narratives created around them.”

Jane Findlay, Curator of the exhibition, said: “Rachel Jones’ work is constantly evolving, as she explores how we shift between ourselves and the world. In this new body of work she challenges the boundaries of her creative voice, finding new layers of vulnerability and dimensions of space. I’m excited for people to encounter these all-encompassing charged works and respond to them in the Gallery.”

Jennifer Scott, Director of Picture Gallery said: “These majestic new works fizz with the possibilities of freedom, contemplation, and connection. Jones’ techniques – from leaving the canvas exposed, to blending bold colours with her fingers – echo the innovations of historic painters from Rubens to Van Dyck, reminding us that great art is timeless.”

Gated Canyons is curated by Jane Findlay, Head of Programme and Engagement, Dulwich Picture Gallery. It is accompanied by a full-colour publication featuring Jones’ newly commissioned works, plus a selection of essays and poetry.