A global field guide to design, (life)style and secret finds est. 2007
Top pick: Gemma Jones solo exhibition
If Gemma Jones wasn't one of my closest buddies in real life, I'm pretty sure I'd still love her. At the very least, I'd still be drawn to the bright poptastic paintings that have become her trademark over the years. Her latest exhibition, Bright signs: Paintings by Gemma Jones, opens tomorrow night at Melbourne's No-Vacancy Gallery, and it heralds the return of her familiar-yet-anonymous mid-century girls with bouffant 'dos and fancy frocks - and this time they've got something to say.
Jones has used celebratory flags, crafty bunting and pin-up pennants in her paintings to explore themes of femininity, feminism, pop art and our public/private selves. The nostalgic and candy-sweet overtones are balanced by an underlying exploration of the semiotics and possibility of protest.
Her personal interest in design, mid-century aesthetic and craft (she is the founding member of Melbourne's Kaotic Kraft Kuties) is reflected throughout these bold new works - and she has requested that visitors to her opening night dress in kind. Dress code? Colour block, of course.
Bright Signs: New Paintings and Prints by Gemma Jones Opening night: Thursday 20 October 2011, 6-9pmNo Vacancy Gallery34-40 Jane Bell LaneMelbourne VIC 3000Tel. 03 9663 3798The exhibition continues until 30 October 2011.
If Gemma Jones wasn't one of my closest buddies in real life, I'm pretty sure I'd still love her. At the very least, I'd still be drawn to the bright poptastic paintings that have become her trademark over the years. Her latest exhibition, Bright signs: Paintings by Gemma Jones, opens tomorrow night at Melbourne's No-Vacancy Gallery, and it heralds the return of her familiar-yet-anonymous mid-century girls with bouffant 'dos and fancy frocks - and this time they've got something to say.
Jones has used celebratory flags, crafty bunting and pin-up pennants in her paintings to explore themes of femininity, feminism, pop art and our public/private selves. The nostalgic and candy-sweet overtones are balanced by an underlying exploration of the semiotics and possibility of protest.
Her personal interest in design, mid-century aesthetic and craft (she is the founding member of Melbourne's Kaotic Kraft Kuties) is reflected throughout these bold new works - and she has requested that visitors to her opening night dress in kind. Dress code? Colour block, of course.
Bright Signs: New Paintings and Prints by Gemma Jones
Opening night: Thursday 20 October 2011, 6-9pm
No Vacancy Gallery
34-40 Jane Bell Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel. 03 9663 3798
The exhibition continues until 30 October 2011.
