Revealing ‘Olympia’ – Into The Studio With Laura Jones

A diaristic show from the celebrated painter at Olsen Gallery in Sydney.

Writer
Miriam McGarry
18th of June 2019

Laura Jones is perhaps best known for her generous and vibrant paintings of flowers, and most recently, for her series of work on The Great Barrier Reef. In her new show Olympia, opening 19th June at Olsen Gallery Sydney, the artist welcomes the viewer into her inner-city studio in the famed old building.

The Olympia building ran as a cinema from 1910-2010, and Laura carries this filmic quality into her diaristic collection of works. The natural light of the studio illuminates her scenes, which tell a story of rambling nights, gallery openings, and of course…flowers! Laura explains ‘I’ve tried to put a bit more of myself in the paintings. My shoes, bag, camera…hints at my experiences and thought processes.’

In Olympia, Laura introduces a realist grit to her work, which Anna Johnson’s catalogue essay describes as ‘the thorn’ of her distinctive floral paintings. Laura describes ‘I’ll always be a nature girl, but the impression of a flower painter as a sweet and dainty profession isn’t quite the way it goes!’

Laura highlights the role of affordable inner-city studios (she shares Olympia with 5 other artists) and urban nightlife for stimulating a sense of culture. This sweet-and-salty collection of works celebrates the ‘vibrancy and excitement’ of a cultural economy, the spaces where art is produced, and ‘fun, gritty, sexy, awkward, messy and wild’ process of creative practice.

Olympia  by Laura Jones
June 19th – July 14th
Olsen Gallery

63 Jersey Road
Woollahra, New South Wales

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