Will Lunn of the William Angel Gallery introduces work by contemporary artist Ross Jones.
William Angel Gallery in East Dulwich is gradually becoming established as a local arts hub. With an exciting program of monthly exhibitions we are building up a reputation for showing curated shows featuring contemporary artists.
Affordable Housing, by Ross Jones
Bucking the increasingly stale trend for pure conceptualism, we aim to support those artists who display a skilfulness that sets them above the rest. While critics and academics have long fought over the question of what can be considered art, what recent developments have taught us, if anything, is that in our post modern state almost anything can be considered art. Therefore our approach is to try to establish the “validity” of artist; a bold statement, but now is the time to be bold.
If an artist’s work is evidence of the sweat and blood that went into it, then we can consider that they have faith in their practice, that they believe in what they are doing. Despite this we still value strong conceptual thought behind a work. We feel that the combination of great skill, great effort and great artistic concept culminate in work we can believe in, work we want to present, work that excites us.
Our latest exhibition showcases the recent work of Ross Jones. Jones is relatively young but already has a masterful command of draftsmanship. While the mind boggles at the detail and finish of his large-scale drawings, this practiced ability is met with a politically active concept. Each drawing seeks to distil a complex political issue into a single iconic work that provokes our thought. While iconic at a distance, due to highly considered spacing, the detail of the works invite closer inspection. This can be seen as a metaphor for the scrutiny which we, as a society, should pay to issues such as the ones highlighted in Jones work. Despite the sensitive material with which they deal the works are characterised by a calm consideration.
Opening Night: Thursday 19th March, 6.30 – 9pm. Exhibition runs: 20th March to 19th April. The gallery is open Thursday to Sunday, from 1 – 6pm at 1 Barry Parade, Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, SE22 0JA. For more information visit www.williamangel.com.
