Peter C. Jones: Still lives

June 6 through July 25, 2015

Photography dealer Kathy McCarver Root and her gallery, KMR Arts, proudly announce the opening of an exhibition of photographs by Peter C. Jonesentitled 18 Still Lives. The exhibition will run from June 6 through July 25,2015 with a reception with the artist on June 6 from 4-7 pm.

Peter C. Jones’ photographs within 18 Still Lives explore the visual category of the still life: a depiction of inanimate objects, objects that do not move. Jones’ photographs encourage the viewer to be present, to look and to feel. 

Throughout the years 1998-2008, the artist explored this still world, creating images that depict glowing interiors, reflective surfaces, saturated color and gauzy layers.  The images were made in a seaside cottage that the artist and his wife rented every summer for many years. These photographs, unplanned and

utterly organic, reflect the days spent in this house during the summer

season, when days become longer and the rhythm of time slows down. There isn’t

much action going on in these photographs and it seems that is exactly the

point. The images were created as the artist commandeered one room, John’s

room, in the seaside cottage. Each day, Jones would work from 2pm to 6pm,

windows closed in the July heat in order to control the “studio” conditions,

working quickly to take advantage of the rapidly changing light. The elements

within these photographs are deceptively simple and un-fancy: layers of light,

landscape, plain furnishings, lush flowers and fruits. Jones says, “I bought

the fabrics and the vases during the winter while Charlotte grew the flowers

during the summer… and she made the arrangements which made these pictures

possible.” As the photographer weaves these elements together, a memory is

created engaging all of the senses. Just as the smell of the salt air, the

sound of the waves gently reaching forward and back over the rocky coastline,

and the sensation of the sea mist on warm skin in the late afternoon sun

combine to evoke a quintessential feeling of summer.   

The still life in one version or another has endured throughout the history of

the visual arts. From the Greco-Roman empire through the Middle Ages to the

Dutch and Flemish still life paintings of the 17th century, the still life has

symbolized a wide range of ideas: life’s impermanence, a metaphor for

hospitality, an awareness of the five senses. These meanings are woven

throughout the images within Jones’ 18 Still Lives.

McCarver Root says, "Peter's photographs are moving on many levels: they are

easy to look at and live with and they also have an underlying tranquil

quality that is timeless."