Clara Fritzsche Library Presents

Marvin Jones: Intellect Meets Primitive,
a Retrospective

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio- 7 September 2005 - Notre Dame College’s Clara Fritzsche Library will host “Marvin Jones: Intellect Meets Primitive,” a posthumous retrospective showing of the works of the prominent local artist, professor and collector. Marvin H. Jones was Professor Emeritus of Printmaking in the Art Department at Cleveland State where he taught from 1976 until his retirement in 2004. Born in Flora, Illinois, he received a B.A. in Art from Anderson College in 1964. After earning an M.A. in Sculpture from the University of California, Davis in 1968, he taught in public schools in California and Indiana and at Sierra College, a community college in the Sacramento area. In the 1970’s, before arriving in Cleveland, Jones taught at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and the Kansas City Art Institute. He was a visiting artist at numerous other institutions including the Rhode Island School of Design, California State University, the University of Dallas and Karl Marx University in the German Democratic Republic.

Jones was an amazingly prolific and multi-talented artist. His works have appeared in over 550 group exhibitions throughout the world. He had over 75 one-man exhibitions of his paintings, prints, drawings, jewelry and sculpture in the U.S, Canada, Europe, Korea and Japan. Reviews of his work have appeared in major publications of the art world such as Artforum, Art in America, Artscanada, Art and Artists, Art News, West Art, Art Magazine, Artweek, and The New Art Examiner. His pieces are included in over forty public collections in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan.

The works of Marvin Jones are remarkable in their deceptively naïve style. His pieces are accessible and have a playful quality and an almost universal appeal. His abstract yet anthropomorphic figures and bright colors seem oddly familiar as though they are tapping into man’s collective consciousness. They recall familiar images such as cartoons, children’s drawings and the art of ancient civilizations. They also are reminiscent of the works of Paul Klee, Joan Miro and Picasso, all unquestionably influences in his work. However, as Jones’ work evolved, he distilled these images, reducing them to their simplest form all the while retaining a fundamentally human quality even in the depiction of animal, alien or other fanciful figures.

In addition to creating an extraordinary body of work in a diverse array of media, Jones was an avid collector of primitive art and folk art. His fascination with Native American, Oceanic, Aboriginal, Eskimo, South American, Asian and African art resulted in his amassing an eclectic and vast collection that informed his own work. Jones was also interested in “outsider” art, works done by untrained, self-taught artists often with eccentric, bizarre, surreal, utopian or apocalyptic artistic visions. While at Cleveland State, Jones championed these renegade artists, organizing and curating “Visionaries,” an exhibit of outsider art from his own collection, as well as a solo show of the works of outsider artist Sid Reuben. The Jones Collection was the subject of articles in Antique Review,The Plain Dealer and other publications. Examples of different aspects of Jones’ collection will be also be on display along with his works. The relationship between Jones’ art and Mexican art was explored in a Folkarte Gallery exhibition of entitled “Marvin Jones and Ocumicho,” a chronicle of his trips to the tiny Mexican town. The current exhibit will focus on his entire array of interests and influences as reflected in his personal collection in an attempt to sum up his personal artistic philosophy and provide the uninitiated an opportunity to get to know a truly unique artistic talent.

Despite his extensive training and renown, Jones was not an elitist when it came to art. Intolerant of pretension and academic puffery, he was extremely open and egalitarian in his approach to art. He infused his classes with a sly, dry humor and nurturing atmosphere where self expression was encouraged, making him a beloved and inspirational instructor during his 27 year teaching career. Likewise, this explains the juxtaposition of kitch such as an assemblage of seashell animals and other “tourist art,” old toys, advertisements, buttons, and other byproducts of various cultures next to rare masks, pottery, statuary and ceremonial headdresses. All of these items were on equal footing in Jones’ eyes, all representing a means to get to the core of humanity, which was the principal goal of his art.

The exhibit will run from September 15th through October 28th. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 15th from 7 to 9 p.m. with a gallery talk by Cathy Jones scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The event is free and refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Karen Zoller at 216-373-5267.