Poppy Jones's Fetishistic Still Lifes Merge Photography and Painting at The Artist Room

British artist Poppy Jones presents photorealist works that blend photography with painting, creating hazy, tactile objects. Her exhibition at The Artist Room in London runs from 24 March to 22 April 2023. Jones employs a lithographic process to develop photographs onto fabric, which she then paints and frames in thick aluminium, resulting in pieces she calls 'objects'. These works, such as Sans Soleil, feature sepia tones and uneven textures reminiscent of nineteenth-century calotypes, while referencing Chris Marker's 1983 essay-film and René Magritte's 1937 painting Not to Be Reproduced. In Tulips (Profile), an indigo silhouette of flowers melts into a shadow, akin to a reversed cyanotype. A Book (The Erasers) shows blank, sun-dappled pages that simultaneously reveal and conceal content. Day’s Close depicts a wrinkled puffer jacket, with the canvas threads enhancing its illusionism. The compositions, including Conch, evoke surrealist photographer Dora Maar's imagery, exploring tensions between display and invisibility. Jones's technique frustrates documentary transparency, imbuing nostalgic subjects with a fetishistic allure through material stains and textures.