Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Jones.
Michael, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have survived off of instinct. It was passed down from my mother. Clairvoyance is the word. The ability to have a vision is something that cannot be taken for granted. I try to use that vision to guide me through this life on earth. It has lead me to this point, and I enjoy the ride. A wise person once told me “Life is about three things, Perception, Perspective, and Reality”. I understand that now and saw it unveiled in front of my eyes while sitting in a friend’s backyard. There was 4 of us sitting at a table, and someone asked: “pass me that black lighter”. I said, “what do you mean the yellow one?” He said ” no the black one”. The bystanders started to laugh as we went back and forth about which color the lighter was. So we both reached down and picked up the lighter. I grabbed the yellow, and he grabbed the black one and held them up at the same time, and presto! Due to things in the way, we could not see that both a yellow and black lighter was laying on the table. The wise person’s statement made sense. We could not see the different lighters due to our perspective, which turned our perception into our reality, when in reality both of us were right and wrong, due to our perspective. So don’t let your perception shape your reality due to your perspective. Just know that your reality is shaped by your perspective, which you can only see from.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My art is an extension of my reality, which may be different from others. So I try to explore those things, how they may differ from others reality and find that common ground. I try to not stick with just one medium to express myself. I am traditionally a painter and always will be, but paint cannot be used all the time. I need to do videos, write songs and poetry, sculpt, collage, draw, take pictures. Each one feeds the other. I’m sort of a multiple personality artist because I can work on things that are totally different at the same time. It doesn’t matter, let’s get it done, get it out of my mind and into reality. If it’s stuck in my brain, my ideas are being held captive, so I must release that energy for others to enjoy. I don’t try to send a message instead I like to ask questions. I learn more from approaching my art that way then trying to tell you something. I want more information. I heard you can learn more with your ears than your mouth.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
If I were to time travel and talked to my young self, I would say, be a mechanic!!!! Don’t go to art school; it’s a waste of money. If you are going to be an artist, you don’t need a school to tell you that. Art school castrates artist, places limitations on their creativity, you will face discrimination at art school and have teachers telling you to paint like black artist, teachers calling security on you while you are in the studio, you paid for, to kick you out because they feel threatening of your existence. If you have to go to art school, go for the experience, go to meet people, go to get your hands on different materials and use different tools to learn to express yourself. Go to become a thorn, in the art worlds side, a pain in the art world’s ass, go and kick the art world in the nads. I mean, I would not trade it for the world, and I think I did time travel back in time to tell me that, but I didn’t listen, so I went to art school and worked at a fast food restaurants to pay the bills (not true and if you do work at fast food restaurants it’s not a bad thing). I wish I learned to hustle more at a young age. If I had the business mind state that I have now then I would not be giving you this interview, I’d be on a trip in Africa studying Mansa Musa I of Mali. I wish I had an entrepreneurial attitude then. I would say don’t stand in your own way and don’t let fear keep you from perusing your vision.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Recently I have started doing public art, so that would be the easiest way to see my work. I just finished a mural project that is inside a self-car wash bay in South West Atlanta (the SWATS for life!!!!) located at Clean Moto behind Lean Draft House. It was one of the coolest project I have worked on because it forces people to look at art in places they would normally go to, to do other things but not see art. I hope to continue doing projects like this. I also did a five-story mural at Broadstone Yards. Hope Cohn Projects commissioned me for this project, and it was a blast working with her. I grew a lot during this project because I had to face many fears in order to complete the wall. I have a wall in Chamblee that I completed last April (2017) that was 330 ft. long, behind the new Whole Foods on Peachtree. I also have a few painting dispersed throughout Atlanta metro inside car dealerships, high-rise apartments, some banks, and corporate environments. So if you would like a mural or painting, let’s chat.
Contact Info:
- Address: Westview Studios
1450 Ralph David Abernathy
Atlanta, Ga. 30310 - Website: www.letter75.com
- Phone: 4045436587
- Email: 75mixedmedium@gmail.com
- Instagram: letter75
- Facebook: letter75
- Twitter: letter75 @75mixedmedium
Girls night out , Wed Dec 23, 2015, 10:00:17 AM, 8C, 7236×10532, (2090+2917), 150%, bent 6 stops, 1/15 s, R34.8, G26.6, B55.1
Jones Down City , Thu Apr 30, 2015, 12:30:41 PM, 8C, 10276×15444, (94+229), 150%, bent 6 stops, 1/12 s, R34.1, G26.8, B53.7
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
