A 36-foot foam mosasaur skeleton is the centerpiece of Jules Buck Jones’ “Future Fosils,” on display at AMSET through June 2. ISSUE photo by Andy Coughlan
Past, present, future serve as backdrops for ‘Future Fossils’
Entering the left back gallery of the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, you come face to face — quite literally — with a colossal 36-foot mosasaur skeleton sculpture suspended from the ceiling. Walking underneath the skeleton, you suddenly feel very small — both because of the piece’s size and also because of the history that it represents.
The sculpture, titled “Invisible and Absolute,” aptly and dramatically introduces you to Austin-based artist Jules Buck Jones’ exhibition, “Future Fossils,” on display through June 2. Finding inspiration from the natural world, Jones’ works center on the themes of evolution and extinction.
“This animal was here, now it is not here, but its fossils are here,” Jones said at the opening reception, March 22. “Now, it’s here in a whole other form. You still have this thing that exists here, but is it a mosasaur or is it just a rock shaped like a mosasaur?”
Jules Buck Jones talks about his work during the opening reception for “Future Fossils” at AMSET, March 22. ISSUE photo by Andy Coughlan
Surrounded by the wrap-around diorama that includes paintings and drawings, the viewer is immersed in a nature-fueled experience. Listen closely, and you hear birds chirping, forest noises being emitted from that which is almost extinct — CD players. Incorporating a sound element with recordings of him mimicking various animal calls, Jones truly transforms the space. Peripheral vision is taken over by the art-covered walls, and then the viewer is also audibly influenced, making it a multi-sensory journey.
“One of the reasons for the black-and-white backdrops is to give the paintings themselves a bit of stability,” Jones said. “The other reason, too, is that I wanted to give that feeling of a natural history museum. I knew I was going to be installing this large skeleton, so these four paintings, these ecosystems, are all telling small narratives of peril.
“These works on paper are dense scenes of peril and tension. Over here, ‘The Storm’ — you have a mass exodus of animals, Gulf Coast animals all leaving the scene, all heading a singular direction, which you know is a bad sign. You have this ominous threatening wave in the background.”
Adjacent to the aforementioned piece, made with ink, watercolor and pastel on paper, “Wrong Wind” leaps from the gallery wall, its color a stark contrast to the black-and-white wrap-around diorama. A mass flight of animals is fleeing, and the bison silhouette moves in the opposite direction producing directional tension.
Large, oversized mammal heads lurk from atop the diorama, looking at you through the black-and-white ink forest, giving a feel of being decapitated and mounted.
Meanwhile, birds of America also perch from their sitting points, staring down at viewers as if being encroached upon in their natural habitat.
Tired of the typical frame job, Jones saw this exhibition as an opportunity to do something different.
“I decided to make drawings and surround (the art),” he said. “I wanted to push the boundary between paintings and how they are mounted and installed. I made a list of linear objects, starting with a stick. I used things that are both dead and alive — bones, fish.”
“A Chicxulub Minute” by Jules Buck Jones
In the adjoining gallery space, mixed-media framed works are on display, continuing the themes of extinction and evolution, while some pieces also allude to mythology.
“This room shows a collection of older-ish pieces that touch on some of these themes [of extinction and evolution],” he said. “Another constant theme amongst the work is — while researching some of the natural sciences – ecology, biology — you bump against mythology.
“I find the similarities between the natural sciences and mythology — there’s so many interesting parallels there. They’re both sort of tools that people use to explain the mysteries of the world.”
The works are fantastical and full of vibrant color with the animal kingdom serving as a vehicle to drive a narrative influenced by larger ecological and biological concerns. Flora, fauna and hybridized animal forms are embodied on the walls, telling foreboding tales.
Jones chose the exhibition title as a reflection of the past and the future, hinting at the cyclical nature of life, which is embodied in each of his pieces in some way. “Future Fossils” leaves you with a haunting sense of wonder at what was and what will one day no longer be.
“I tried to balance themes of hopefulness, but there’s also peril — that’s life I guess,” he said.
“Future Fossils,” along with JooYoung Choi’s “Big Time Dreaming in the Age of Uncertainty,” is on display through June 2 at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, 500 Main St. in downtown Beaumont.
For more information, visit www.amset.org.
Story by Kara Timberlake, ISSUE contributor