Otis Jones

(b. 1946)

Otis Jones was born in Galveston. His father’s work required frequent moves, so Jones never stayed in one place long, moving to numerous small towns throughout the southern U.S. He and his mother eventually settled in Oklahoma when Jones reached high school age. Though never exposed to art, Jones always liked to draw and decided as a young child that he wanted to be an artist. He spent summers on his grandfather’s farm in Missouri where he was encouraged in his efforts to draw and make things. It was here that Jones learned to appreciate the aging process of manmade objects as he observed farm equipment that rusted, weathered and broke only to be patched up and repaired to extend its useful life.

Jones earned his BFA from Kansas State University in 1969 and his MFA from the University of Oklahoma in 1972. Although his work has been compared to that of the Minimalists, Jones considers himself an essentialist. His primary concern is the physicality of his work. He builds up the surface with multiple layers of paint, then scrapes and sands off sections before adding yet more paint to create a dialogue of textures and colors. His paintings and sculptures are architectural in dimension, and though they often appear monochromatic in tone at first glance, closer inspection reveals the subtle layers of color.

Jones is represented in many Texas museum collections including the Tyler Museum of Art, the Witte Museum in San Antonio, the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as well as the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.