Eric Dean Gallery
2024-2025 Exhibition Schedule
Fine Arts Center | Wabash College | Monday - Friday 9-5pm | Saturday 2-6pm
Free and open to the public | Closed during Wabash College breaks
SPRING 2025
RESTORING HOPE, RESTORING TRUST
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE SOLO EXHIBITION
AMEN
Contemporary quilts and works on paper by Julian Jamaal Jones
January 24–April 12, 2025
Julian Jamaal Jones, Dear Heavenly Father, Please Wash Away My Sins, Quilt, 60”x71”, 2023.
Julian Jamaal Jones, Untitled Quilt, 52”x 39”, 2022.
Gallery Reception with Artist: Friday, January 24, 2025, 4-7 pm
Lunchtime Artist Lecture: TBD
Exhibition Statement
After a prayer, we close with ‘amen’—an affirmation, a ‘thank you,’ an ‘ashé, a declaration that the blessings we’ve called upon God for are to be.
“AMEN”, an exhibition by Julian Jamaal Jones, explores the experience of an evolving faith rooted in the artist’s affinity to the Black church– a communal space housing a subset of Black expression and spirituality. Through bold, instinctive mark-making, Jones fondly revisits his memories of this homespace as a foundation to his unwavering belief and life view.
This body of work follows “Take Me Back”-- an exhibit at Tube Factory Artspace in January of 2024, documenting Jones’ nostalgia towards 1990s Black church life—a pivotal era of spiritual communion emphasizing political mobilization, community engagement, and progression of experimental soundscapes and fashion styles.
In “AMEN”, a maturation has taken place. While his memories as a child in this sacred space remain, manifested through the warmth of his signature sun-drenched hues and gestural line work, we now are presented with an awakening, seen through the immersive quilts in this body of work. Through his incorporation of sentimental fabrics such as recycled cotton, denim, and plush velvet, Jones narrates an experience of becoming; amening this previous chapter of his life as he looks towards the future.
This exhibit includes several quilt and paper works displaying Jones’ intentionally non-traditional patternings, woven from both old and new pieces. Together, they narrate the impact of his spiritual practice in grasping the absurdities of this current zeitgeist, riddled with greed, injustice and insularity. “AMEN” takes into consideration these notions of today’s world, as conviction to remain grounded in his faith, nurtured by his memories of resilience and unity echoed through the Black church.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Julian Jamaal Jones is a multidisciplinary artist and educator born and raised in Indianapolis, IN. Jones memorializes Black culture by presenting fresh perspectives while presenting creative freedom within traditional landscapes. His unique practice communicates through the historical language of African American quilting tradition by implementing abstract forms and vibrant colors in his works to bypass the preconceptions and open conversations around his Black experience.
Jones received his Bachelor's degree in Photography in 2020 from the Herron School of Art + Design (Indianapolis, IN) and a Master’s in Photography in 2022 from Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI), under the tutelage of Chris Fraser. Julian was selected to participate in the Black Mountain Active Archive Residency in 2024, the recipient of the CICF Artist Travel Ambassador Grant in 2023, awarded ArtsConnect “Artist to Watch” in 2022, the recipient of the 2022 Playground Emerging Artist fellowship, supported by the Knight Foundation and the recipient of the prestigious Museum Purchase
Award from Cranbrook Art Museum in 2022. Forthcoming art exhibitions include Common Threads a group exhibition at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery (2024), “AMEN” a solo exhibition at the Eric Dean Gallery at Wabash College (2025), and Will Be King a solo exhibition at the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum (2025). Jones’s works are in the permanent textile collections of Cranbrook Art Museum (Bloomfield Hills, MI), Richmond Art Museum (Richmond, IN) and The Book Tower Detroit (Detroit, MI).
Artist Statement
A line runs from my art practice through the nurturing practices of my great grandmother, the family quilter. Grandma Elsie not only constructed colorful, elegant, and sophisticated quilts for her eight children, she also made garments for everyday wear. From her I inherited an appreciation for quilting, fashion, and art.
I grew up in a strict, Christian household on the northside of Indianapolis, in a predominantly white neighborhood. Raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, I learned the value of the Black community. But surrounded by whiteness, I dealt with loneliness and social anxiety. I didn’t want to be seen or identified by my white peers. After school, I would recuperate by watching 106 & Park on B.E.T. Watching videos of Lil’Kim, Missy Elliot, Crime Mob, and Lil Wayne, I witnessed people who looked like me. 106 & Park introduced me to Black hip-hop culture, which influences all aspects of my practice.
I best express myself through sketching. My drawings are colorful, abstract, gestural, and ultimately unexplainable. Even I can’t quite comprehend what comes out of my sketchbook. Due to my learning disability, drawing has been my most direct form of communication. I approach the making of quilts as a sketching process, working quickly to creatively process the sense of alienation that comes from being a Black man in white spaces.
2025 Senior ART Exhibition
April 26 – May 17, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 26, 4:00 – 5:30pm
This exhibition is a critical final rite of passage for the talented artists who have dedicated their academic focus to the visual arts.
Gregory J. Huebner Gallery
The Gregory J. Huebner Gallery is located in the Randolph H. Deer Fine Wing in the Fine Arts Center. The Huebner Gallery features a rotating exhibition of works from the Wabash permanent collection and is open during building hours.
Questions and Inquiries can be sent to stradera@wabash.edu
Contact stradera@wabash.edu to schedule field trips.