Hashimoto Contemporary is pleased to present Country, a solo exhibition by Illinois based artist Erik Jones. Country will be Jones’ second solo exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary, in which he continues his investigation of the figure, form and composition, intermixing elements of hyperrealism and geometric expressionism. Rendering his subjects in a hyperreal aesthetic, they are enshrouded within a colorful swell of shapes, color and form.

For his latest body of work, Jones was inspired by his recent move to Illinois, and the outsider and folk art he encountered there. Looking at these sources as well as contemplating the concept of kitsch, the artist will be exhibiting six new paintings drawing influence from these various ideas. Striving for an intuitive or ‘naive’ aesthetic, Jones digitally laying out the compositions, working out them out almost as if collaging the various elements. Drawing from various Internet sources including paintings, photographs, figure and facial expressions, the artist changes the intent of the original images through color and composition, creating a brand new narrative.

Typically utilizing a wide range of mixed mediums, the artist pared down his tools for the new body of work, focusing solely on pencil and acrylic paint, all the while maintaining his signature aesthetic. Juxtaposing the hyperreal figure, garish bright colors and idyllic landscape backgrounds, Jones focuses on the aesthetic and strives to evoke a sense of beauty. Nudes are painted in energetic blocks of vibrant color gradients and shape, creating hybrid figures that frenetically carry the viewer to an unknown place where the familiar and fantastical merge.