Room with a View | Dylan Jones

Room with a View Dylan Jones October 6 - October 24, 2021

Dylan Jones in the Studio. Brisbane, Australia.

Photographer: Mark Dobson.

As an artist, I believe it is important to push towards a new challenge rather than staying static. With this in mind, during early 2021 I deliberately placed myself amongst the iconic landscape of Sydney Harbour. An environment I previously would have deemed too beautiful to paint.

Throughout time, artists have been drawn to this site as a source of inspiration.

Masters such as Arthur Streeton, Margaret Preston and Brett Whiteley all depicted their unique vision and response to this place and revealed the harbour with a certain unimaginable brilliance. Room with a View offers a fresh take on the subject and allows me to make my own mark on this lineage.

Each work portrays the harbour in a more humble light, granting me the tranquility to digest the environment’s overwhelming beauty on my own terms.

Instead of seeking out the conventional ‘postcard vistas’ we are accustomed to seeing, I positioned my entire focus through the east-facing window of my accommodation when painting each work. The physical act of distancing myself from the landscape allowed my viewpoint to become less site specific. I was able to respond to the immediacy of my surroundings in order to reimagine structures and scenes of the everyday in a new, ubiquitous setting. The paintings do not settle on an exact moment in time, but instead have an ephemeral quality. The approach is one of subtlety and softness, inviting the viewer to lull in each spacious composition.

— Dylan Jones, 2021

Signs of Life 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 110 x 76 cm. $5900

The Romance of Elsewhere 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 72 x 54 cm. $3300

Let It Wash Over You 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 110 x 76 cm. $5900

An Old Flame 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 110 x 76 cm. $5900

The Lights Are On but Nobody’s Home 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 72 x 112 cm. $5900

I Feel Like I’ve Known You for Years 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 72 x 112 cm. $5900

A Long Tall Drink of Water 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

Don’t Be a Perv 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

Everyone’s a Little Afraid of the Dark 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

I Dare You to Swim to the Other Side 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

I’m Exactly Where I Need to Be 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

If You Squint, You Can See It 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

Introduced Species 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

Light Before the Storm 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

Keep Calm and Don’t Plant a Palm 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

Not a Bad Day for It 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

Surely You Packed a Life Jacket 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

That Didn’t Last Long 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 18 x 26 cm. $1100

The Ferry’s Fucking Late Again 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

The Lost City of Atlantis 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

The Rich Man’s Sport 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

When You Cross Over 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

You’re Always in the Way 2021 Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 26 x 18 cm. $1100

Window view, Kirribilli, Sydney.

54 Vernon Terrace, Teneriffe QLD 4005 info@janmantonart.com janmantonart.com 0419 657 768 Front Cover Image: Signs of Life, 2021, Gouache on paper mounted on aluminium, Tasmanian oak frame, 110 x 76cm.

Gallery Director Jan Manton Gallery Manager Taylor Hall