

We love the paintings by Philip Jones. The artist showed recently at VEGAS Gallery at a group exhibition curated by Anny Baranova.
‘It has become hard not to notice how worlds of Art and Fashion are so intertwined. Nietzsche wisely noticed that all life came down to arguments about taste. Susan Sontag provided us a definition on camp and its predilection to artifice and love for vulgarity. When speaking of fashion connotations in art mixed with references to sexuality, especially in figurative paintings, Philip Jones is the perfect example to elaborate on.
The work of Philip Jones fuses eccentric characteristics, dandyism, mythological and almost fairy tale-like symbolism. In series of works such as ‘Dandies’, he brings the viewer back into the epoch of Oscar Wilde a time when aesthetics, effeminacy and sexuality swirled around in a rather undefined cloud, distinctly sexually suspect, but never really daring to speak its name. Such extravagant mixes of symbols, hints of kitsch and ostentation echo works by Jeff Koons who uses a playful, toy-like and rather ironic approach in his art pieces. Bright and rich colors provide another dimension to the paintings, allowing the audience to indulge in its beauty. Whether we are looking at an object of sexual desire or a mythological character, we’re not entirely sure.
In his works Philip Jones brings us into the fairy tale of pure beauty and esthetic pleasure where each element of the painting turns the spectator into a child curious to find out the plot of the magic story. And Philip Jones knows how to do so in a very fashionable manner.’ text by Anny Baranova, excerpt from ‘Baranova’s Journal’