Rachel Jones
In SMIIILLLLEEEE, Jones asks after the titular gesture as a spontaneous expression of happiness, a more ambivalent guise, a veiled threat, a refusal; as an action or suggestion, a command. To the artist, the mouth is the site where diverse identities are spoken or silenced; where voiced histories, oral traditions, and values are conveyed or quieted. Writing on the occasion of Jones’ exhibition SMIIILLLLEEEE (2021), in which this work was included, poet Vanessa Onwuemezi speaks to the artist’s compelling confusion of optimism and opposition: “Joy. And violence of opening wounds a tooth-slice, a jagged rip, heavy lined expression glorious, glorious as the sunshine hits us, wink of the glint of gold teeth smiling defiance, smiling the bright of day.” The coincidence of images in this passage echoes the apparent tension of Jones’ brilliantly saturated painting, its scrawled lines in turns joyful and resistant. As to the smile of the title, look to the bottom of the painting, to the outline of teeth, and the suggestion of a red lip arched upwards to the left, topmost corner.
b.1991, Brentwood
Pause to find the teeth among the marks and brilliant colours in Rachel Jones’ paintings – those few figurative allusions in the otherwise abstract works. To the artist, teeth become social signifiers, freighted with contemporary and historical meaning, be they broken or bejewelled with grills and gold caps. To the viewer, they appear as a key to the map of her wider enquiries. “I’m interested in exploring identity politics in a way that is more experiential,” she says. “The human figure may come in later, but for me, it’s more about using space, line, depth and material to stimulate a sensory and bodily reaction in the viewer.” Citing “black interiority” as her theme, Jones’ almost-abstractions offer alternative engagements with matters of identity and selfhood. The paintings tell of those things felt and seen that remain inarticulable, where words could go awry. A language in and of themselves, Jones’ paintings are talkative, direct, communicating body to body. They could do without this interpretation into text.