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About

Samuel Levi Jones creates minimalist abstractions—paintings, objects, and installations—from deconstructed art, law, medical, and history books. These painterly compositions on canvas are comprised of desecrated book covers sewn together into collage-like patterns, and infused with swathes of pulp, while loose threads and weathered cardboard binding reveal the process of deconstruction. Inspired by questions of authority, representation, and recorded history, Jones’s practice centers on physically undoing these volumes of information, only to re-arrange, re-purpose, and re-imagine the materiality into grid-like fields of color and texture. By desecrating historical material and re-imagining new works, he explores the framing of power structures and struggles between exclusion and equality.

Drawing from specific sources, each piece is imbued with not only the history of the book covers and the subject matter of the book material but also the structures of power which produce and perpetuate inequities. Jones has been digesting, skinning, and processing the form and material of academic reference books. This critique is conducted physically: Jones separates the fabric book covers from their cardboard supports, their binding, and their contents. The covers are collaged onto canvas, rendering compositions that evoke the peeling surfaces and stacked construction of vernacular urban architectures and the vulnerable transparency of human skin, without leaving any question that these are paintings made from books. The recognizable fabric of books, weathered and stained, loose threads, and suggestions of institutional and personal ex libris remain while the content of the books is discarded and withheld from the viewer.

Samuel Levi Jones was born and raised in Marion, Indiana, and he lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana. Trained as a photographer and multidisciplinary artist, he earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from Taylor University and a B.F.A from Herron School of Art and Design in 2009. He received his MFA in Studio Art from Mills College in 2012.

Museum exhibitions include The Empire is Falling at The Contemporary Dayton, Dayton, OH; Left of Center at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indiana; Infinite Blue at the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/Guiffrida Collection at the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago, Illinois; and Unbound, Studio Museum in Harlem. His work can be found in museum and public collections such as the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Rubell Family Collection, Miami, Florida; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He is the recipient of the 2014 Joyce Alexander Wein artist prize awarded by the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Selected Works

This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "usurpation." This artwork was created in 2024 and measures 90" x 100" [HxW] (228.6 x 254 cm); 91 ¹⁄₄" x 8' 5 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (231.77 x 257.17 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed law books and pulped law books, finance books, US flag, and British flag on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
“usurpation,” 2024
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "look both ways before you cross my mind." This artwork was created in 2024 and measures 40" x 70" x 2" [HxWxD] (101.6 x 177.8 x 5.08 cm)41 ¹⁄₄" x 71 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (104.77 x 180.97 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed Harvard Classics on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
“look both ways before you cross my mind,” 2024
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "double standard." This artwork was created in 2024 and measures 30" x 30" x 2" [HxWxD] (76.2 x 76.2 x 5.08 cm)31 ¹⁄₄" x 31 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (79.37 x 79.37 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed Harvard Classics and pulped British flags on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
“double standard,” 2024
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "white tears." This artwork was created in 2024 and measures 30" x 30" x 2" [HxWxD] (76.2 x 76.2 x 5.08 cm); 31 ¹⁄₄" x 31 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (79.37 x 79.37 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed law books and pulped US flag on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
“white tears,” 2024
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "Lobbyist." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 36" x 36" x 2" [HxWxD] (91.44 x 91.44 x 5.08 cm); 37 ¹⁄₄" x 37 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (94.61 x 94.61 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed and pulped law book covers on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
“Lobbyist,” 2023
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "Higher Education." This artwork was created in 2024 and measures 40" x 40" x 2" [HxWxD] (101.6 x 101.6 x 5.08 cm)41 ¹⁄₈" x 41 ¹⁄₈" x 3" [HxWxD] (104.45 x 104.45 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Harvard Classics book covers, pulped law book covers, and pulped US flag on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
"Higher Education," 2024
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "Speed Trap." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 30" x 30" x 2" [HxWxD] (76.2 x 76.2 x 5.08 cm); 31 ¹⁄₄" x 31 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (79.37 x 79.37 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed and pulped law book covers on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
“Speed Trap,” 2023
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "Intermittent." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 20" x 20" x 2" [HxWxD] (50.8 x 50.8 x 5.08 cm); 21 ¹⁄₄" x 21 ¹⁄₄" x 3" [HxWxD] (53.97 x 53.97 x 7.62 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed and pulped law book covers on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
"Intermittent," 2023
Samuel Levi Jones “Coalesce,” 2023
Samuel Levi Jones
“Coalesce,” 2023
Samuel Levi Jones “Tragedy,” 2017
Samuel Levi Jones
“Tragedy,” 2017
This image depicts an artwork by Samuel Levi Jones titled "Neurosis." This artwork was created in 2022 and measures 96" x 60" x 1 ³⁄₄" [HxWxD] (243.84 x 152.4 x 4.44 cm) framed. Its medium is Deconstructed law books and newspapers on canvas.
Samuel Levi Jones
"Neurosis," 2022
Samuel Levi Jones “Subjective Value,” 2019
Samuel Levi Jones
“Subjective Value,” 2019
Samuel Levi Jones “Black Glitter,” 2019
Samuel Levi Jones
“Black Glitter,” 2019
Samuel Levi Jones “Theft,” 2019
Samuel Levi Jones
“Theft,” 2019
Samuel Levi Jones, Oppressor Man, 2018, Law Books on Canvas, 65 x 60" [HxW] (165.1 x 152.4 cm)
Samuel Levi Jones
"Oppressor Man," 2018
Samuel Levi Jones, Twenty Seven, 2017, Medical Books on Canvas, 55 x 60" [HxW]
Samuel Levi Jones
"Twenty Seven," 2017
Samuel Levi Jones, Macrotherapy, 2017, Medical Books on Canvas, 70 x 65" [HxW]
Samuel Levi Jones
"Macrotherapy," 2017

Exhibitions

1978
Born in Marion, IN
Lives and works in Chicago, IL
2012
MFA, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2009
BFA, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN

Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2024
Solo, The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Bloomington, IN (forthcoming)
"abstraction of truth," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
"Savage Elite," Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
2023
"Samuel Levi Jones: Longing," Galerie Lelong Paris, Paris, France
"Conscious Intuition," Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
2021
"No color in the pages," Patron Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019
"Mass Awakening," Galerie LeLong, New York, NY
"No More Tokens," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
"Samuel Levi Jones – Left of Center," Newfields, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
"Let Us Grow," Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
2018
“Nexus,” Patron Gallery, Chicago, IL (Link)
2017
"One Blood," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA
2016
“Burning all illusion,” Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
“Reciprocity,” PATRON, Chicago, IL
"Samuel Levi Jones," The Arts Club, London, UK
"Samuel Levi Jones," Halsey McKay, East Hampton, NY
“48 Portraits (Underexposed),” EXPO Projects, PATRON, Chicago, IL
2015
“After Fred Wilson,” IMOCA, Indianapolis, IN
“Unbound,” Studio Museum, Harlem, NY
2014
“Black White Thread,” PAPILLON, Los Angeles, CA
2013
DELETE, Los Angeles, CA
“48 Portraits (Underexposed),” Harrison Center for the Arts, Indianapolis, IN

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024
"Objects and Power," ICA Maine, Portland, ME
"Unruly Navigations," Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA
"When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
"Stop & Stare," UTA Artist Space Curated by Genevieve Gaignard, Los Angeles, CA
"Making a Garden of Strange Fruit," Presented at "CAB 5: This is a Rehearsal," Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago, IL
2023-2024
"Dialogues," Patron Gallery, Chicago, IL
2023
"Between the Seams," PM/AM Gallery, London, UK
2022
“Young, Gifted and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art,” Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, Davis, CA
"Continuum," SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA in partnership with Residency Art Gallery and The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection
"Skin in the Game," Curated by Zoe Lukov & Produced by Abby Pucker, Pop Up Exhibition, Chicago, IL
2021
"New Prints and Editions," Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY
"20 Years," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2020
"A Summer Like No Other," Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY
2019
"On Soft Ground," Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis, IN
"Solitary & Solidarity: The Joyner/Guiffrida Collection," Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
"Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press," Gallery 360, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, NM; Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona, FL
2018
"Sedimentations," 8th Floor Gallery, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, New York, NY
"Edge of Visibility," International Print Center New York, New York, NY (Link)
"Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of the Black & Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art," Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, FL
“Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press,” Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
“Sidelined,” curated by Samuel Levi Jones, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY (Link)
2017
“Excerpt,” Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
2016
“Chicago Invites Chicago,” Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
“Trust Issues,” Ronchini, London, UK
“A Dark Matter,” Tarble Gallery, Eastern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
2015
“Theory of Forms,” PATRON Gallery, Chicago
“Talk To Me,” 2x2 Solos, Pro Arts, Oakland, CA
“I Like It Like This,” S2 Sotheby's Gallery, New York, NY
“The Silence of Ordinary Things,” The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, CA
2014
“The History of Technologies,” Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Open,” PAPILLION ART, Los Angeles, CA
2013
“A Basic Measure,” SEUI ULTCW, Los Angeles, CA
“TRANSPORT,” ProArts, Oakland, CA
2012
“X Libris,” Root Division, San Francisco, CA
“BAILA con Duende,” Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
“MFA Show,” The Last Show on Earth, Mills College, Oakland, CA

Bibliography

2024
Bolden, Jason. "Samuel Levi Jones Dissects the Divine Accidents That Have Made Him an Artist to Watch" Cultured, November 1 (Link)
Silverman, Erica. "Best LA Shows: Alice Neel, Tahnee Lonsdale, Lita Albuquerque, and More," Whitewall, September 16 (Link)
Valentine, Victoria L. "On View: "When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History' At Dallas Museum of Art Showcases Recent Acquisitions by Artists of Color, Women, and Queer Artists," Culture Type, August 13
2023
Donoghue, Katy. "Samuel Levi Jones Breaks Down and Reimagines Systems of Power," Whitewall, October 6 (Link)
D'Souza, Aruna. "Samuel Levi Jones," 4Columns, June 16 (Link)
Golden, Dan. "Samuel Levi Jones," Curator Guide, May (Link)
2022
Amadour, Ricky. "‘Continuum” Exhibition Bridges a Gap by Bringing Black American Art Into SoFi Stadium," LA Magazine, August 17 (Link)
Frieze Los Angeles News. "Top Works under $25K on Frieze Viewing Room," Frieze, February 15 (Link)
2021
Fazzare, Elizabeth. "Cultured Collections with Suzanne McFayden," Culture Magazine, June 11 (Link)
2020
Sargent, Antwaun. "Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists," D.A.P. Distributed Art Publishers, 2020.
2019
Wilson, Michael. "Review: Samuel Levi Jones, Galerie LeLong," Artforum, December (Link)
"Viewpoints, Episode 4: Samuel Levi Jones and Pamela Joyner," Galerie LeLong Podcast, October 3 (Link)
Boyd, Oseye. "New exhibit at Newfields makes lasting impression," Indianapolis Recorder, March 21 (Link)
2018
Sayej, Nadja. "Edge of visibility: celebrating artwork with hidden messages," The Guardian, November 19 (Link)
Ollman, Leah. "Keep Looking: Samuel Levi Jones Speaks with Leah Ollman," Art In Print, September 6 (Link)
Weisbrode, Kenneth and Heather H. Yeung, "How We Lost the Sky," The New York Times, July 23 (Link)
Sussman, Anna Louie, “What Sold at Art Basel,” Artsy (web), June 17 (Link)
Chi, Paul, “Blu Ivy Bid $10,000 at an Art Auction, and Won,” Vanity Fair (web), March 18 (Link)
Rodney, Seph, "The Political Truths that Ground our Athletic Heroes," Hyperallergic (web), February 9 (Link)
2017
Valentine, Victoria L., “Artist Samuel Levi Jones is Joining Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects,” Culture Type (web), October 12 (Link)
Sargent, Antwaun, “Kara Walker, Juliana Huxtable, and More Challenge False White Recordings of Black History,” Creators, Vice (web), April 12
Rodney, Seph, “An Artist Gives Us a Vision of the Future Through Books,” Hyperallergic (web), January 10 (Link)
Sargent, Antwaun, “Striking Deconstructed Book Paintings Challenge American History,” The Creators Project (web), January 2 (Link)
Sheets, Hilarie M., “Samuel Levi Jones Unbinds Fractured History of Justice,” Introspective Magazine, January 2
2016
Volkening, Laura, “Tearing Up Power One Book at a Time, Samuel Levi Jones at PATRON Gallery,” Newcity Art (web), April 1
Lowe, Rhiannon, “Ripped,” CCQ Magazine, April 18
Steadman, Ryan,” 10 Things to Do in New York’s Art World Before July 1,” Observer Culter (web), June 28
Lesser, Casey, “15 New York Group Shows You Need to See This July,” Artsy (web), June 28
Freeman, Nate, “EXPO Chicago 2016 Announces Roster for Special Projects Sectors,” ARTnews Magazine, August 23
Cataldo, Angelica, “‘A Dark Matter’ Artists Discuss Wor for ‘Artists-in-Dialogue’,” The Daily Eastern News, September 29
Helmke, Juliet, “Samuel Levi Jones on Raising Consciousness and Standing Rock,” Blouin Artinfo (web), November 23
Lesser, Casey, “20 New York Shows to See Over the Holidays,” Artsy (web), December 20
Pobric, Pac, “Three to see: New York,” The Art Newspaper, December 20
“9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week,” ARTnews (web), December 20
2015
Keith, Naima and Dana Liss, “Artist x Artist: Mark Bradford and Samuel Levi Jones,” Studio: The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine, January 1
Edwards, Adrienne, “Blackness in Abstraction,” Art in America, January 5
Ollman, Leah, “Unbinding the System,” Art in America, April 1
Heddaya, Mostafa, “Bookworm: Samuel Levi Jones,” Blouin Artinfo, April 7
Willis Blair, Courtney, “4 Questions: Samuel Levi Jones,” Forbes, March 26
Martraire, Marie, “Talk to Me: Samuel Levi Jones at ProArts,” Daily Serving (web), September 13
Cristello, Stephanie, “Chicago’s Concept-Based Group Exhibitions Show Strength in Numbers,” Art Slant (web), October 20
Winkelman, Timothy, “Review: Theory of Forms at Patron Gallery,” Hairy Rainbow (web), December 17
2014
Dragovich, Sarah, “New Works at Recology San Francisco,” Art Nerd San Francisco, September 22
Ollman, Leah, “Review: Works of Defiant Beauty (Samuel Levi Jones),” Los Angeles Times, November 26

Awards, Grants and Fellowships

2018
Sustainable Arts Award, Sustainable Arts Foundation, San Francisco, CA
2014
Recology Residency, San Francisco, CA
Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
2012
Vivian and Margarita Stephenson Award, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2011
Mills Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Oakland, CA
2010
Evelyn V. Staton Fellowship in Fine Arts, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2009
Mildred Darby Menz Award, Herron School of Art and Design Indianapolis, IN
2008
Junior Bratton Award, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN

Catalogues and Publications

2021
Cunningham, Nijah. “Samuel Levi Jones,” Galerie Lelong & Co., New York & Paris, 2021
2020
Sargent, Antwaun. "Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art," The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, D.A.P. Publishing, New York, NY, 2020

Curatorial Projects

2021
"The Sum of Unity," Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN

Public Collections

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
JP Morgan Chase Collection, New York, NY
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MO
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Madison Art Collection, Harrisonburg, VA
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
Pennsylvannia Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Studio Museum, Harlem, NY
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
Weisman Art Museum Collection, Minneapolis, MN
Whitney Museum, New York, NY