John Paul Jones: Dreams and Lies in the Gatekeeper's House

Edited by Melinda Wortz
Published by © 1984 University Art Gallery, UC Irvine

Jones’ devotion to creativity and rigorous experimentation encouraged him to work with many mediums.  The empty space between the ghostly figures in his prints, such as Girl for Goya, Garden of Eden, Leda and the Swan, resonate art-historical, philosophical, and religious themes.  The show at Irvine showcased his recent venture into woodworking, seen in works such as Cockscomb Crossing and Highgate.  These works encourage the viewer to perceive Jones’ skeletal wooden sculptures as visual portals to Jones’ “archetypically existentialist vision."  Viewers who engage with the pieces would find Jones’ work refined and somehow beautifully archaic.  Entering wooden gates that reveal the past as dreamlike and false, viewers enter the sculpted space of Jones' mind.