Derek Jones

Concepts I paint images from films and documentary photographs. The films I choose have social and/or political comment in them. The images I use are very often just a few seconds in the film, a fleeting moment. With a painting I am able to stop that moment to give the viewer an opportunity to contemplate the frozen image. If the viewers have seen the film and recognise it from the painting, hopefully the memory of it will come back, allowing them to remember the meaning and narrative in the film, and also see new meanings that are emphasised by the paintings. Although my paintings are specific to their source, they are also universal in their meaning, so if the viewer hasn't seen the films, they can hopefully still engage with them. I hope that this accessibility is enhanced by the expressive possibilities of painting. Influences Modern media, including film, television, magazines, newspapers, and my own photographs. Exploring politics and emotions. Career path I graduated from Art College with a BA Hons Degree in Fine Art in 1980. I then worked as a Community Artist for three years. After that I began to develop my studio work, and taught drawing and painting in Further Education College part-time. I built up a body of work and did my MA in Fine Art at the University of Central England, Birmingham, and graduated in 1995. I have exhibited my work nationally, and in Dublin Ireland. I received an Artist Bursary from West Midlands Arts in 1997, which enabled me to give up my part-time teaching for a few months to concentrate on my own work. During this period I was contacted by Wolverhampton Grammar School to become their Artist in Residence on a part-time basis, I left there in 2010. I have had two major solo exhibitions, one at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2000, and the other at the Lighthouse Gallery, Wolverhampton in 2002. I am working on a new series of paintings, and looking for new exhibiting opportunities.