- This event has passed.
AMEN Gallery Opening
January 24 @ 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
AMEN
Contemporary Quilts and Works on Paper by Julian Jamaal Jones
Wabash College | Eric Dean Gallery | Fine Arts Center
Jan 24 – April 12, 2025
Opening Reception, Friday, January 24, 4:00 – 7pm (open to the public)
Contemporary Quilts and Works on Paper by Julian Jamaal Jones
Wabash College | Eric Dean Gallery | Fine Arts Center
Jan 24 – April 12, 2025
Opening Reception, Friday, January 24, 4:00 – 7pm (open to the public)
Join us for refreshments and cash bar after the Celebration of Research, meet Julian and see some great art!
The Gallery is open to the public, M-F 9-5, and Saturday 2-6pm, and is closed on Wabash College breaks.
Exhibition Statement: After a prayer, we close with ‘amen’—an affirmation, a ‘thank you,’ an ‘ashé, a declaration that the blessings we’ve called upon God for are to be.
“AMEN”, an exhibition by Julian Jamaal Jones, explores the experience of an evolving faith rooted in the artist’s affinity to the Black church– a communal space housing a subset of Black expression and spirituality. Through bold, instinctive mark-making, Jones fondly revisits his memories of this home space as a foundation to his unwavering belief and life view.
This body of work follows “Take Me Back”– an exhibit at Tube Factory Artspace in January of 2024, documenting Jones’ nostalgia towards 1990s Black church life—a pivotal era of spiritual communion emphasizing political mobilization, community engagement, and progression of experimental soundscapes and fashion styles.
In “AMEN”, a maturation has taken place. While his memories as a child in this sacred space remain, manifested through the warmth of his signature sun-drenched hues and gestural line work, we now are presented with an awakening, seen through the immersive quilts in this body of work. Through his incorporation of sentimental fabrics such as recycled cotton, denim, and plush velvet, Jones narrates an experience of becoming; amening this previous chapter of his life as he looks towards the future.
This exhibit includes several quilt and paper works displaying Jones’ intentionally non-traditional patterning, woven from both old and new pieces. Together, they narrate the impact of his spiritual practice in grasping the absurdities of this current zeitgeist, riddled with greed, injustice and insularity. “AMEN” takes into consideration these notions of today’s world, as conviction to remain grounded in his faith, nurtured by his memories of resilience and unity echoed through the Black church.
This body of work follows “Take Me Back”– an exhibit at Tube Factory Artspace in January of 2024, documenting Jones’ nostalgia towards 1990s Black church life—a pivotal era of spiritual communion emphasizing political mobilization, community engagement, and progression of experimental soundscapes and fashion styles.
In “AMEN”, a maturation has taken place. While his memories as a child in this sacred space remain, manifested through the warmth of his signature sun-drenched hues and gestural line work, we now are presented with an awakening, seen through the immersive quilts in this body of work. Through his incorporation of sentimental fabrics such as recycled cotton, denim, and plush velvet, Jones narrates an experience of becoming; amening this previous chapter of his life as he looks towards the future.
This exhibit includes several quilt and paper works displaying Jones’ intentionally non-traditional patterning, woven from both old and new pieces. Together, they narrate the impact of his spiritual practice in grasping the absurdities of this current zeitgeist, riddled with greed, injustice and insularity. “AMEN” takes into consideration these notions of today’s world, as conviction to remain grounded in his faith, nurtured by his memories of resilience and unity echoed through the Black church.