Locust Jones
"Locusts don't tend to bring good news. The artist Locust Jones is no exception. ...Jones tackles the big picture head on; his epic drawing is a tortured condensation of everything that is wrong with the world. Climate change and war morph together in his huge dark inky blobs, a toxic blend of apocalyptic mushroom clouds and the ghosts of old growth forests..."
Tracey Clement – Sydney Morning Herald
Locust Jones is an expatriate New Zealander who lives in
Australia. Through his art, Locust challenges his energy depicting
it in large-scale panoramic ink work, text-based works, expressive
scrawled drawings, and large rough wood cuts. Locust comments on
political situations and world politics have become a catalyst for
frenzied outpourings of anguish. These critiques are raw and
shrewd.
Locust's work also draws from experiences of isolation, whether
on a high country sheep station in New Zealand or in Lebanon where
he was an artist in residence in 2004. Rather than follow the
political currents that fuel much of his art, Locust depicted
personal memories of Beirut, or more accurately amnesia. Having
exhibited in Lebanon in 1999, he was surprised that he could forget
things from just five years later. This also compelled him to paint
about the Beirutis not wanting to remember their past.
"Locust's improvisational and instinctual elements in his images
coincide alongside his diatribes on the current political climate
which is often ego-centred and best exemplified in his work on
paper." (Tim Welfare)
Locust won the prestigious Hazelhurst Prize, an arts competition
promoting excellence and innovation in the field of art on paper in
2009. He exhibits throughout New Zealand and Australia, and has had
solo exhibitions in New York, Germany, and Lebanon.
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