Samuel Levi Jones
Holding Space, 2023
Deconstructed and pulped law books, medical books, and bound newspaper covers on canvas
60 x 50 in (152.4 x 127 cm)
Framed: 61 ¼ x 51 ¼ x 3 in (155.6 x 130.2 x 7.6 cm)
(GL15961)
Samuel Levi Jones
Lost Truth, 2023
Pulped encyclopedia pages and pulped law book covers, crate
Sculpture: 37 x 29 ¼ x 6 in (94 x 74.3 x 15.2 cm)
Sculpture on crate: 71 ⅜ x 43 ⅜ x 11 in (181.3 x 110.2 x 27.9 cm)
(GL15986)
Samuel Levi Jones
Pleasure from Pain, 2023
Deconstructed and pulped law books on canvas
60 x 50 in (152.4 x 127 cm)
Framed: 62 ¾ x 52 ½ x 3 ¼ in (159.4 x 133.3 x 8.3 cm)
(GL15963)
Samuel Levi Jones
Untitled, 2022
Deconstructed and pulped encyclopedias and law books with cotton and abaca
30 x 22 in (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 37 x 29 x 2 in (94 x 73.7 x 5.1 cm)
(GL15810)
Samuel Levi Jones
The Library of Alexandria, 2023
Pulped and cast encyclopedia pages, metal shelves, rug
Two bookshelves, each: 83 ⅛ x 109 ½ x 24 ½ in (211.1 x 278.1 x 62.2 cm)
Books, each approximately: 9 x 11 x 2 in (22.9 x 27.9 x 5.1 cm)
(GL16026)
Samuel Levi Jones
Joshua, 2016
Deconstructed Illinois law books on canvas
61.5 x 77 inches (156.2 x 195.6 cm)
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Chazen Museum of Art General Endowment Fund and Alice Drews Gladfelter Memorial Endowment Fund purchase, 2018.5
Samuel Levi Jones
Burning all illusion, 2016
Deconstructed encyclopedias, law books, and African American reference books on canvas
40.75 x 47.25 inches (103.5 x 120 cm)
(GL10759)
Samuel Levi Jones
Apparatus, 2019
Print portfolios on canvas
60 x 65 inches (152.4 x 165.1 cm)
(GL12801)
Samuel Levi Jones
No Fucking Liberty, 2017
Football skins, grass stains, dirt
44 x 40 inches (111.8 x 101.6 cm)
(GL12210)
Samuel Levi Jones
Collusion, 2018
Football tackling pads
30 x 30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
(GL12651)
Samuel Levi Jones
Universal Issue, 2017
Pulped medical reference books, mixed media, and steel
30 x 18 x 18 inches (76.2 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm)
Samuel Levi Jones
Wrath of Children, 2019
Deconstructed print portfolios on canvas
60 x 50 inches (152.4 x 127 cm)
framed: 61.38 x 51.38 x 3.5 inches (155.9 x 130.5 x 8.9 cm)
(GL13376)
Samuel Levi Jones
Mass Awakening, 2019
Deconstructed print portfolios on canvas
100 x 90 inches (254 x 228.6 cm)
Framed: 101.5 x 91.5 x 3.5 inches (257.8 x 232.4 x 8.9 cm)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
Accessions Committee Fund purchase
Samuel Levi Jones
The Strangers You Trust, 2021
Pulped and deconstructed law books on canvas
50 x 45 inches (127 x 114.3 cm)
Framed: 51.8 x 46.8 x 3.7 inches (131.6 x 118.9 x 9.4 cm)
(GL15050)
Samuel Levi Jones
Milieu, 2021
Deconstructed history book, law books, and medical books on canvas
90 x 100 inches (228.6 x 254 cm)
Framed: 92 x 101.5 x 3.75 inches (233.7 x 257.8 x 9.5 cm)
(GL15116)
Samuel Levi Jones
Talk to Me, 2015
Deconstructed law books, canvas and wood
38 x 41 inches (96.5 x 104.1 cm)
Samuel Levi Jones is inspired by questions of authority, representation, and recorded history. The artist is known for challenging historical and contemporary power structures through the act of taking apart "source" material, generating new perspectives from which to grapple with society’s ongoing ignorance and apathy. Jones’s practice centers on physically undoing objects associated with systems of power and control, often rearranging deconstructed books into grid-like compositions that expose their flaws and question their assumed command of the truth. As he explains, “I am ultimately thinking about information that is selectively left out.” His works examine urgent questions of how oppression is embedded in systems of law enforcement and education, as well as industries in medicine, athletics, and fine art.
Solo exhibitions include The Empire is Falling at The Dayton Contemporary, Ohio; Left of Center at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indiana; and Unbound, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York. Recent museum exhibitions include Art of California: Greater than
the Sum, SFMOMA, San Francisco, California; Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Infinite Blue at the Brooklyn Museum, New York; and Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection at the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago, Illinois. His work can be found in museum and public collections such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas and Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington. In 2014, Jones was the recipient of the Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, an annual award presented by The Studio Museum in Harlem, whose past recipients include prominent artists such as Leslie Hewitt, Glenn Ligon, and Lorna Simpson.
Jones was born in Marion, Indiana, in 1978, and lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Lowe Art Museum
Saturday, December 3, 2022 from 10am to 1pm
The Contemporary Dayton
Virtual event on January 12, 2022 at 6:00pm
Watch recording here
Held on February 17, 2021
Watch recording here
The Shed
Held on December 3, 2020
Watch recording here
Organized by Arts for Learning, Indiana as part of their third space project.