Jennie C. Jones: Dynamics

Classifiable as neither paintings nor sculptures, many of the works in the exhibition feature architectural felt and acoustic panels to create what Jones calls “active surfaces.” By absorbing sound, these materials affect the acoustic properties of their environments and invite participation in an embodied mode of perception.

The pieces in the show comprise multiple components and take the form of diptychs and triptychs—arrangements that Jones compares to chords in music. The surfaces of these objects balance a contained Minimalist rigor with gestural painted marks. This interplay between traces of the artist’s hand and signs of its erasure suggests the tension between improvisation and controlled structure evident in avant-garde music.

More info: https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/jennie-c-jones-dynamics

Picture: Jennie C. Jones, Fractured Extension/Broken Time, 2021 (detail), Acoustic absorber panel, architectural felt, and acrylic on canvas in two parts, 121.9 × 121.9 × 7.6 cm each. © Jennie C. Jones, courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York, and PATRON Gallery, Chicago