In an exhibit last spring at TastySpace Gallery, artist Christopher Jones used found photographs and hand-cut letters to create hand-crafted memes, skewing new phrases and old idioms that he paired paradoxically with vintage photos. The small works were humorous and poignant commentaries on life and society, neatly framed.
More recently, Jones has gone large-scale and wordless with billboard-style works for sale at Patina Decor that convey the timeless glamour and haughty attitude of the haute couture ad world.
Chris Jones at Patina Decor.
Sexy, vintage and alluring, the 40-by-60-inch billboard collages combine fashion illustrations (from old Harper’s Bazaar magazines) and enhanced photographs of models, as well as other printed imagery, blown up large as life, then layered on wood panel.
The works, Jones says, come from his love of the large billboards around town that display layers of decay and dilapidation, a tone and style he recreates with panache.
By printing his digital collages onto newsprint, then pasting them on top of torn layers of other printed ephemera, Jones is again incorporating past and present in material and aesthetic. Though not as conceptual and biting as his DIY memes created for a curated art exhibit, Jones’ billboards in the upscale vintage boutique on Main Street reflect his talent in combining his backgrounds in fine art and design. The stylish works are eye-catching and fitting amid Patina’s decades of tasty design
Billboard collages Patina Decor, 1300 S. Main St. #140, 702-776-6222.
