a
Press Release:
30 October 2000
For Immediate
Release:
Robert Jones will
be exhibiting over 60 photographs in a solo exhibition
- his first in
10 years - in November at the Wild Horse Gallery, at 1007
South Alamo,
in San Antonio, Texas. Of the prints exhibited, almost 30
have never heretofore
been on view anywhere, including the Jones online
gallery.
Opening night is the 3rd of November 2000, First Friday Artwalk,
from 6 p.m. through
10 p.m. The exhibit will be on display all November.
The exhibit, titled "Concrete Cathedrals and other photographs" celebrates
industrial and rural themes. The title is an allusion to the massive
grain elevators which dot the landscape in rural Texas, particularly in
the Panhandle. "I moved to Texas five years ago, and found that I
could spend my life photographing the state. It never gets old;
there's so much that's new to my eyes every time I go out on a shoot,"
Jones remarked. The majority of the new work, which began in September
1999, is from rural Texas scenes. This
will also be the first exhibit of Jones' ongoing work in progress, documenting
the entire U.S. Route 87, which begins on the Gulf of Mexico at Port Lavaca,
and ends just short of the Canadian border in Montana. "I've shot
over 40 rolls and still haven't gotten out of Texas. But what I've
got -- from the Gulf to the border of New Mexico -- is Texas in all its
wide-open splendor."
"I'm very excited, particularly since many of the photographs on exhibit
may have never been exhibited," said Jones. During the mid-1990s,
most of his negatives were damaged or destroyed in a flood.
Thus last year began the painstaking work of restoring his portfolio.
Over 15 photographs represent the nearly 75 prints preserved or restored
during the past year, thanks to PhotoShop restoration software. Most
gracious thanks goes out to the many collectors who've lent Jones originals
of his works, made during the late 1980s and early 90s, from which new
negatives have been produced.
"As it turned out, some of my negatives were so completely destroyed that
I had to track down the owners of the original prints. Fortunately, I found
everyone and their help has been invaluable. Grateful acknowledgement goes
out to Robert and Joyce Willgoos, Jennifer Arbaiza, Cornelia Lett,
Lee Young and Leslie Scher Brown for their help with this effort.