Jack Barrett is pleased to present Out of Frame, a three-person exhibition featuring works by Joseph Jones, Gonçalo Preto, and Michael Thompson. Spanning continents, these three painters explore the complexities of representation and our evolving relationship with the image iteself—whether personal connections, cultural histories, or the vast reaches of the mind.

Joseph Jones brings an immediacy to his depictions of familiar subjects, such as flora and felines. His intimate, hyper-realistic paintings, often sourced from online imagery, are imbued with surrealism—like the glowing eyes of a heterochromatic cat whose head seemingly dissolves into its background. These artistic interventions—along with the tactile materiality of his chosen mediums—transform the digital origins of his subjects. The texture of the linen and reflective surface of the glazing invite viewers to experience these works in real life, in stark contrast to the flatness of their digital counterparts. Jones' paintings not only evoke a personal, domestic aura but also prompt cultural reflection, capturing tender moments of comfort and familiarity.

Descended from three-generations of factory workers at Ford Motor Company, artist Michael Thompson’s work emerges from a deep connection to and nostalgia for the aesthetics of manual labour. Borrowing from film photography and motion pictures, the imagery in Thompson’s paintings appears from a bygone era––decontextualized stills and crops offer a stark contrast to their original sources. In this way, Thompson meditates on image production and shifting labor dynamics, such as the displacement of human labor by automation and artificial intelligence, much like how digital photography has supplanted analog film.

Where Jones and Thompson anchor their work in cultural history, Gonçalo Preto takes a more cerebral and atmospheric approach. His practice delves into perception, consciousness, and the vast terrain of human experience. Anchoring the exhibition are two large-scale paintings of solar plexus nerves, each offering a distinct interpretation: one, ethereal and wash-like, reveals itself slowly, while the other contrasts with deep, nuanced hues of dark blue. Drawing on the visual language of mechanical and scientific processes, Preto’s work navigates between the representation of the nervous system and the construction of fictional spaces. His paintings engage with the mysteries of perception and the complexities of our cognitive and sensory experiences.