Mision San Diego de Alcala 1935 - 1942

James Jones’ drawing of Mision San Diego de Alcala is made up of precise marks creating the image of a historic bell tower. You can see the detail in the brickwork, the slight aging of the facade, and the shadows beneath the arches. I can imagine Jones standing before this striking building, squinting to get all the details correct. Maybe he felt a sense of history and awe; perhaps he was thinking about the people who built it, or those who came after. I wonder if he struggled to get the perspective right, or if he ever smudged the graphite, having to start again. The grey tones make me think of the work of Vija Celmins, or even Giorgio Morandi. Jones’ careful observational drawing, like theirs, is a way of seeing the world in a new way, of experiencing the present through the past. He reminds us how artists are always building on the work of others who came before them.