By Chandler Padgett

The Crimson White

 

Beginning on Oct. 1, the exhibit “Every Night” by Selma native Roger Jones will be on display at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in Tuscaloosa. His art is abstract and colorful, containing repetition and patterns.

“[Jones’] drawings and paintings explore imagery concerned with architecture, nature, travel and music and have been exhibited in group shows in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee,” the Art Council said in a press release.

He lists the works of a variety of abstract artists that have influenced him, but for this exhibit, he said fellow Birmingham artist Clayton Colvin is the most similar.

Jones attempts to imbue the sounds of music and nature into his pieces, which has been his primary inspiration for the past three years.

“I think that all music expresses something that lies within us all. Musicians have a way of channeling their influences into something that is their own, yet universal at the same time,” Roger said.

Jones has a fascinating story about his artistic inspiration.

“A few years ago, I started listening to music on my iPod while falling asleep. Somewhere in between closing my eyes and falling asleep, I have found a seemingly endless expanse of imagery that seems to come from something beyond my own power while listening to music,” he said.

“The best way for me to rediscover, clarify and share those images with others in my waking life is through painting.”

Although he does not claim to have synesthesia, a melding of the senses, Jones said that music is an intensely visual phenomenon.

“The idea that a sound may trigger a color or shape in someone’s consciousness or vice versa makes a lot of sense to me, especially in the context of what I am doing with the paintings in Every Night,” Jones said.

Roger describes some of his art as having the qualities of landscape painting.

“I’d be lying if I said that landscape painting had no influence on my current work. I think that with the paintings in “Every Night.” I am visualizing a hybrid environment between what the eye sees and what a place feels like in a memory,” Roger said.

“Some of the paintings in “Every Night” feel like a landscape, and I have a lot to owe to those who came before me who made landscape painting the focus of their artwork.”

In his free time, Jones is a drummer, something he lists as a big influence on his work.

“Rhythm is very important to me as a drummer and rhythm has a lot to do with how I arrange colors and shapes in my paintings,” Roger said.

Given his penchant for music, especially jazz, he has quite a few bands he likes: The Allman Brothers Band, Phish, The National, Miles Davis, and quite a few others.

Jones works for a non-profit called Space One Eleven in Birmingham, which provides professional opportunities for artists as well as arts education for youth, according to their website.

The gallery is open the whole month of October. On October 2nd there is a reception where you can meet the artist himself.

“If you think you aren’t interested in a particular style of work, come listen to the artist talk about his art. You would be surprised at just how interesting the story behind one’s art can be,” Sharron Rudowski, Education Director of the Arts Council, said of the reception.

Jones is the son of Catesby and Terry Jones of Selma and a graduate of John T. Morgan Academy.