NEW YORK, NY.- Marc Straus announced that Otis Jones has joined the New York gallery. Born in Galveston, Texas in 1946, Jones has created a distinctive body of abstract paintings in his long and illustrious career.
His sculpted paintings may seem muted at first until we perceive its hand-made quality, its nuances and subtleties. Jones tacks roughly-cut canvases over thick, irregularly shaped wood frames. The layered edges of plywood and staples remain exposed and celebrated. Jones then paints numerous layers, repeatedly sanding and reworking the surface to attain a natural abraded texture. A few formal elements of small circles or lines are added or excavated from under-painting. As a result, his paintings are sincere and full of character, bearing traces of its genealogy.
Marc Straus, founder of the New York gallery comments, “These are such convincing works and yet I almost do not know where to place them as the work is so filtered by instinct and its need to be hand-made. I think of early tacked on canvases of Richard Tuttle but then there is a hint of Arte Povera, early Minimalism, and even Color Field. In the end, there is nothing quite like these paintings; they are sophisticated and yet unorthodox, they are formal and informal.”
Barry Whistler, owner and founder of Barry Whistler Gallery who represents Jones in Dallas adds, "Having worked with Otis Jones for sometime now, it has always struck me what succeeds in his work is his approach to the formal aspects of painting combined with his innate sense of color. It is deserving now that such work is seen by even more." 
Suzanne Friedli, co-founder and partner of Annex14 who represents the artist in Zurich comments: ”When we saw the paintings of Otis Jones for the first time we were immediately impressed by the deepness and the density of this reduced language, the physical presence of the object-like works and the concentration on painting as a process. We didn't understand why this outstanding conceptual and aesthetical work was not known at all in Europe, and knew we could raise great interest in a short time. We are very proud to collaborate with this artist and excited for Jones to now have a wider audience in the US.”
While Jones has been widely shown in Texas, and recently in Europe, his first solo exhibition in New York City with MARC STRAUS will be in the Fall of 2018.
