Attention: You are using an outdated browser, device or you do not have the latest version of JavaScript downloaded and so this website may not work as expected. Please download the latest software or switch device to avoid further issues.

News > OD Updates > Biography: OD Artist Simon Jones' (1968O)

Biography: OD Artist Simon Jones' (1968O)

Simon Jones (1968O) reflects on his life and passion for art.
6 Jul 2021
OD Updates

Featured

Arts & Culture

Born in Lagos, Nigeria in January 1951, my father was a doctor and my mother the artist Mary Hart. Of the family's five years there one memory stands out indelibly. At age three, sprawled out on a bedroom floor littered with crayons and paper, I am fixated on the abutting balcony and the large lizards scurrying forth from the surrounding bougainvillea. Furtively sliding a sheet of paper into their sun-drenched arena in the hope of receiving some cryptic message my dismay at the lack thereof is palpable to this day!

Moving to Cape Town in 1956 art remained my most viable means of communication. After matriculating from Bishops in 1968 and with a diploma in graphic design from the Cape College for Advanced Technical Education I spent a year as a set painter for CAPAB.

I had my first one-man show at the Goodman-Wolman Gallery in Cape Town in 1975. Over forty-five years later painting remains my full-time occupation.

Painting in acrylics and choosing a figurative approach of timeless ilk I heed a need to convey a semblance of harmony 'twixt man and nature. Hence the biblical, dreamlike aspect many have gleaned from viewing my work.

A resident of Fish Hoek for thirty years I have mainly exhibited in the Cape. My paintings are included in the following collections: Iziko [S.A. National Gallery, Cape Town], Pretoria Art Museum, William Humphrey's Art Gallery, Kimberley, King George 6 Gallery, Port Elizabeth, Pietersburg Art Gallery and University of the Orange Free State, Sasol, Tuynhuys, Sanlam, Telkom and BoE.

Oudekraal braai

 

Similar stories

Paul Murray recently in Milan, Italy with OD Paul McCabe (1993 OH), where they had their OD Reunion.

As the newly appointed Old Diocesans Ambassador with the inaugural year a first experience, Dr Paul Murray reflects. More...

2022 rapidly draws to a close. We need another committee as good as the current one to continue moving the ODU forward.… More...

The inimitable Peter Hyslop as described by his son, Simon. More...

From TikTok to the recording studio: Will Linley is making waves on the local and international music scene.. More...

Tando Mnukwana (1991W) recently met up with an old school friend and now his lecturer, Jimmy Winfield (1992K) at Forries… More...

Most read

A weekend to remember on the splendid Rovos Rail. More...

Tim was first and foremost a family man and a great friend to many, he was a people’s person. More...

Binney Stephen is inviting ODs to attend. More...

Have your say

 
This website is powered by
ToucanTech