Jonathan Jones at GBK.

Visiting Breenspace and GBK I was initially drawn to the work of Kate Murphy over Jonathan Jones. I found her work emotionally raw dealing with feelings any viewer could relate to, making it easily accessible. In contrast, Jonathan Jones’ 'revolution' work is subtle in meaning and requires some contemplation. I found it intriguing as it is unlike anything I have seen in regard to indigenous artwork. I like the innovation that he uses, giving the public a contemporary perspective on the aboriginal lifestyle.

Jones uses fluorescent tubes in his installation as well as simple line drawings on the walls. Aesthetically, the lightings diamond shapes were very perfect looking and the light emitted created the feeling of life and an aura around the piece. Personally I’m not one for the minimalist look but the sketches that accompanied the lighting were a nice effect. The combination of the two seemed to me to be a reflection on the past of aboriginal art being simple and organic, contrasting to the majority of life now that is overwhelmed with industrial materials and architecture. This was what I thought of the installation without the aid of a reading or a guide. However it just so happened that it was Jones’ grandfather who showed him how to work with material like this making it seem like he is not as tied up to the notion of past verses present as I thought. It seems like he is just going with the flow of what’s going on at present in terms of art materials. His meaning is deep rooted into everything related to the aboriginal culture, their traditions and beliefs about community and labour. It is possible to think of many influences to the work such as minimalism; however it is said that minimalism is not what was intended by Jones. Once a little background information is heard about the work the meaning is clear and insightful. I think it’s interesting that the meaning is so simple and yet complex that the work can evoke new ideas that were never intended.

The Gallery space that the work was placed in created an atmosphere that felt more like I was stepping into an artwork rather then looking at one. The light radiated, illuminating the white space. I liked the clean feeling there because it was a huge contrast from the natural earthy tones I would normally associate with aboriginal artwork. The drawings were positioned for the light to give them another dimension and a feeling of life; this shows how though the work seems effortless it was carefully calculated.

The aspect of Jones' work that I like the most is that he’s an artist that is creating contemporary aboriginal art that embodies the indigenous heritage as well as moving it in new directions that provoke new thoughts. The work of Jonathan Jones takes into account traditional values as well as being able to experiment with different media and techniques which makes the work relevant to contemporary art.