Rance Jones: The Lingering Revolution

New York, NY – Beginning October 1, 2020,  Forum Gallery will proudly host the first New York exhibition for American watercolorist Rance Jones (b. 1965).  Jones first visited Cuba in 2018, and was immediately inspired to begin his paintings of the current reality of life there.  Making more visits from his native Texas, Jones fixed his eye on the people of Cuba and the music, commerce, dance, thought and history that informs their daily lives. 

In the twenty-six watercolors that comprise the exhibition, A Lingering Revolution, Jones explores children, farmers, workers, shoppers and tradespeople against the remarkable past/present landscape that is Cuba today.  Venturing out from the city of Havana, the Artist explores the homes, workplaces and vistas that describe the unique environment that plays such a large part in defining Cuba.  But his subject is human life, and the persistent hope, ambition and devotion that inspire the lives of the Cuban people.  A child walking through the vegetable market has the bright gleam of anticipation in her eye; a laborer hauls his shouldered burden with strength and resolve; a woman reads the newspaper and is clearly absorbed.  All are painted with the meticulous technical ability and knowing sense of color that enable Jones’ talent for revealing human emotion to emerge and prosper.  

For the exhibition catalogue, Rance Jones writes:

“A world apart, Cuba is a vibrant and visceral country on the edge of great change. The people who live here are survivors and dreamers in a land where nothing goes to waste and everything is celebrated.

…This series of watercolor paintings explores the interlocking fibers that weave Cubans into their social, political and physical environment…In these paintings, I wanted to depict this range of attitudes and emotions through the expressions, body language and surroundings of these remarkable people.”