Samuel Levi Jones addresses the authority and antiquated position that encyclopedic and institutional books and volumes have held as a source of information throughout history. Jones uses the material that once held the authorship on history as a manipulatable platform to re-examine history itself and draw attention to figures, events, and triumphs of those often overlooked in written accounts, individuals of color and women. Through a process of breaking apart the books, deleting its pages and text and re-structuring the material, Jones creates a clean slate for the insertion of a new and updated revision of history to the material. An anthropological approach is at the core of Jones’ practice.

CURRICULUM VITAE
b.1978 Marion, IN
Lives and works in Indianapolis, IN

EDUCATION
2012 MFA, Studio Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2009 BFA,Fine Art in Photography, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN
2002 BA, Communication Studies, Taylor University, Upland, IN

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 
Forthcoming, Vielmetter, LA 
Forthcoming, Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 
Savage Elite, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA 

2023
Longing, Galerie Lelong, Paris, FR
Conscious Intuition, Galerie Lelong, New York, NY

2021
Rise Up, Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris, FR
The Empire is Falling, The Contemporary Dayton, Dayton, OH
No color in the pages, PATRON Gallery, Chicago, IL 

2020
Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris, FR

2019
Mass Awakening, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY
No More Tokens, Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles CA 
Left of Center, The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
Let Us Grow, Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris FR

2018
Nexus, PATRON, Chicago IL

2017
One Blood, Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles CA 
Remedial Suffering, Herron School of Art & Design, Indianapolis, IN

2016
Reciprocity, PATRON, Chicago, IL
Samuel Levi Jones, The Arts Club, London
Samuel Levi Jones, Halsey McKay, East Hampton, NY
48 Portraits (Underexposed), EXPO Projects, PATRON, Chicago, IL
Burning all illusions, Galerie Lelong, New York, NY

2015
After Fred Wilson, IMOCA, Indianapolis, IN
Talk To Me, Pro Arts, Oakland, CA
Unbound, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2014
Black White Thread, PAPILLION ART, Los Angeles, CA

2013
Delete, Los Angeles, CA
48 Portraits (Underexposed), Harrison Center for the Arts, Indianapolis, IN

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Unruly Navigations, MoAD, San Francisco, CA 
When you see me: Visibility in Contemporary Art History, Dallas Art Museum, Dallas, TX 
Stop & Stare, UTA Artist Space, Atlanta, GA

2023
Between the Seams, PM/AM Gallery, London, UK
Chicago Architecture Biennale: Making a Garden of Strange Fruit, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
Dialogues, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2022
Monochrome Multitudes, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, MI
Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Bonccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, PN
Whatever Gets You Through the Night, The Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI
Subversive Media: Materiality and Power, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

2021
Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Bonccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
New Prints and Editions, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY
20 Years Anniversary Exhibition Part 2, Vielmetter, Los Angeles, CA

2020
I Yield My Time, Fuck You, Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA
Paper Pavilions, Curated by Sean M. Starowitz, 411 Gallery, Indianapolis, IN 
Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago IL 
Nexus: Contemporary Art from Leading Miami Collections, Lowe Art Museum, FL
Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of Black and Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art form the Collection of Dr. Robert B. Feldman, Virginia Museum of Art, Virginia Beach, VA
A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY
RED, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, NY

2019 
Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, curated by Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff , OSilas Gallery at Concordia College, Bronxville, NY 
Resilience: African American Artists As Agents of Change, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/ Giuffrida 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; Traveled to: Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, NM; Meuseum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona, FL; Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA; Krasel Art Center, St. Joseph, MI

2018
The Edge of Visibility, International Print Center, New York, NY
Sedimentations, 8th Floor Gallery, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, NY
Reclamation! Pan-African Works from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

2017
Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Excerpt, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2016
Hard Edged: Geometric Abstraction and Beyond, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
INDEX Roma, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, ES
Chicago Invites Chicago, Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
Trust Issues, curated by Ryan Steadman, Ronchini, London
A Dark Matter, curated by Rehema Barber, Tarble Gallery, Eastern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

2015
Trashed and Treasured, Napa Valley Museum, Napa Valley, CA
Theory of Forms, PATRON, Chicago,IL
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, San Francisco, CA 
OPEN, PAPILLION ART, Los Angeles, CA

2013
A Basic Measure, SEUI ULTCW, Los Angeles, CA
Transport, Pro Arts, Oakland, CA

2012
X Libris, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Baila Con Duende, Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA 
The Last Show on Earth, MFA show, Mills College, Oakland, CA

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024
Dana Flynn, “MoAD Opens Two New Exhibitions Featuring Renowned International Artists,” Secret San Francisco, April

2023
Ally Fouts, “Microcosm: A Review of “Dialogues” at Patron,” Newcity Art, November
“Art Sense: Artist Samuel Levi Jones,” Art Sense, November
Christopher Hawthorne, “At the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Artists Run Free,” The New York Times, November
Kristina Rapacki, “Dress rehearsal: Chicago Architecture Biennial 2023,” The Architectural Review, November
Katy Donoghue, “Samuel Levi Jones Breaks Down and Reimagines Systems of Power,” Whitewall, October
Aruna D’Souza, “Samuel Levi Jones,” 4Columns, June

2022
Ricky Amadour, ”’Continuum” Exhibition Bridges a Gap by Bringing Black American Art Into SoFi Stadium,” LA Magazine, August
“Top Works under $25K on Frieze Viewing Room,” Frieze, February

2021
Leigh Raiford, “Burning All Illusion: Abstraction, Black Life, and the Unmaking of White Supremacy,” Art Journal 79, no. 4, Winter
Elizabeth Fazzare, “Cultured Collections with Suzanne McFayden,” Cultured Magazine, June

2020
Antwaun Sargent, “Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists,” D.A.P. Distributed Art Publishers
Staff Reporters, “Organization brings traveling art exhibit to schools to inspire students,” WISHTV, January

2019
“Viewpoints, Episode 4: Samuel Levi Jones and Pamela Joyner,” Galerie LeLong Podcast, October
Leah Ollman, “One artist’s solution to the racial inequities embedded in books: Rip them apart,” Los Angeles Times, August
Annie Armstrong, “Dallas Art Museum Adds Eight Works to Collection with Dallas Art Fair Acquisition Fund,” ARTnews, April
Oseye Boyd, “New exhibit at Newfields maks lasting impression,” Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper
Dan Gorssman, “A Moment of Change and Reckoning at Newfields,” NUVO, March
Aaron Gettinger, “At the Smart, ‘Soliday & Solitary’ shows individuals progressing Black Art,” Hyde Park Herald, February 

2018
“Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago,” E-Flux, December
Nadja Sayej, “Edge of visibility: celebrating artwork with hidden messages,” The Guardian, November 
Leah Ollman, “Keep Looking: Samuel Levi Jones SPeaks with Leah Ollman,” Art in Print, September - October
Kenneth Weisbrode and Heather H. Yeung, “How We Lost the Sky,” The New York Times, July
Anna Louie Sussman, “What Sold at Art Basel,” Artsy, June
Paul Chi, “Blu Ivy Bid $10,000 at an Art Auction, and Won,” Vanity Fair, March
Seph Rodney, “The Political Truths that Ground our Athletic Heroes,” Hyperallergic, February

2017
Victoria L. Valentine, “Artist Samuel Levi Jones is Joining Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects,” Culture Type, October
Martha Schwendener, “What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week,” The New York Times, January
Seph Rodney, “An Artist Gives Us a Vision of the Future Through Books,” Hyperallergic, January
Antwaun Sargent, “Striking Deconstructed Book Painting Challenge American History,” The Creators Project, January
Hilarie M. Sheets, “Samuel Levi Jones Unbinds Fractured History of Justice,” Introspective Magazine, January

2016
Laura Volkening, “Tearing Up Power One Book at a Time, Samuel Levi Jones at PATRON Gallery,” Newcity Art, April
Rhiannon Lowe, “Ripped,” CCQ Magazine, April
Ryan Steadman,” 10 Things to Do in New York’s Art World Before July 1,” Observer Culter, June
Casey Lesser, “15 New York Group Shows You Need to See This July,” Artsy, June
Nate Freeman, “EXPO Chicago 2016 Announces Roster for Special Projects Sectors,” ARTnews Magazine, August
Angelica Cataldo, “‘A Dark Matter’ Artists Discuss Wor for ‘Artists-in-Dialogue’,” The Daily Eastern News, September
Juliet Helmke, “Samuel Levi Jones on Raising Consciousness and Standing Rock,” Blouin Artinfo, November
Casey Lesser, “20 New York Shows to See Over the Holidays,” Artsy, December
Pac Pobric, “Three to see: New York,” The Art Newspaper, December
“9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week,” ARTnews, December

2015
Timothy Winkelman, “Review: Theory of Forms at Patron Gallery,” Hairy Rainbow, December
Stephanie Cristello, “Chicago’s Concept-Based Group Exhibitions Show Strength in Numbers,” Art Slant, October
Leah Ollman, “Unbinding The System: Samuel Levi Jones, who’s exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem is his first in New York, deconstructs old encyclopedias to set the record straight,” Art in America, April
Adrienne Edwards, “Blackness in Abstraction,” Art in America, January
Naima Keith and Dana Liss, “Artist x Artist: Mark Bradford and Samuel Levi Jones,” Studio: The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine, January
Mostafa Heddaya, Bookworm: Samuel Levi Jones, Blouin Artinfo, April
Rhiannon Love,”Ripped,” CQQ, April
Maria Martraire, “Talk to Me: Samuel Levi Jones at ProArts,” Daily Serving, September
Courtney Willis Blair, “4 Questions: Samuel Levi Jones,” Forbes, March
“Artist x Artist: Mark Bradford and Samuel Levi Jones,” The Studio Museum Magazine, Winter-Spring

2014
Leah Ollman, Review: Works of Defiant Beauty (Samuel Levi Jones), Los Angeles Times, November
Sarah Dragovich, “New Works at Recology San Francisco,” Art Nerd San Francisco, September

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2024
Artist in Residence, Fountainhead, Miami, Florida

2023
Lab Grant Resident, Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York 
Engaged Artist in Residence, Gayle Karch Cook Center of Public Arts and Humanities at Indiana University

2020
DeHaan Artist of Distinction Award, Indianapolis, Indiana

2017
Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant
Artist in Residence, Paulson Fontaine Press Residency, Berkeley, California

2015
Artist in Residence, Pamela Joyner and Fred Giuffrida, Sonoma, California

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

2011-2012
Mills Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Oakland, CA

2010-2012
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

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York, NY
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, TX
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C. 
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA 
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
JP Morgan Chase Collection, New York, NY
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MO
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Madison Art Collection, Harrisonburg, VA
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago, IL
Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL
Pennsylvannia Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA 
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, IL
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY 
The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN 
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY