Artist: Terrell Jones, MichiganDate minted first NFT: March 28, 2021Which blockchains? Ethereum, TezosInfluenced by classic gangster fil
Artist: Terrell Jones, Michigan
Date minted first NFT: March 28, 2021
Which blockchains? Ethereum, Tezos
Influenced by classic gangster films, Terrell Jones has a distinctive style that captures imagination and nostalgia. He is about to auction a second piece at Sotheby’s and has a patented “soft-shell taco method” to garner the attention of notable collectors.
Who is he?
From childhood aspirations of being a cartoonist to now being one of the hottest new NFT artists capturing the attention of elite collectors and Sotheby’s, Terrell Jones is well into his launch trajectory.
Born in Ann Arbour, Michigan, Jones has a visually distinct style. But it is his ability to tell stories through his art such as the collections “Evil in Color” and “Good and Evil” that sets him apart. Just in the last two months, Jones has had some of his highest-ever sales, and there is growing interest in his work.
“A big thing for me has always been to try to connect my stories and images with a deeper part of everyone. With the way things are moving now and with so many artists, people are probably seeing more art within a day than you probably would have seen within a year. It’s been a big shift,” Jones says.
“Because we can see so much art, I wanted to have my stuff stick to people in a deeper sense. I want them to remember.”
In a similar vein to Grant Yun (featured last week in NFT Creator), Jones is a big fan of drawing on evocative memories and a sense of longing for the past.
“I’m definitely trying to connect the viewers and collectors of my art with nostalgia. A lot of the music I listen to is for nostalgic reasons. A lot of the movies and shows I watch are for nostalgic reasons. I lead with nostalgia in a sense with my work,” stated Jones.
“Especially with the ‘Evil and Color’ series, a lot of it does come from old gangster films or old crime films. They’ve been super influential for me and I was very much into them. I’m talking about The Sopranos, Goodfellas, Scarface and all those types of classics.”
Despite all of the recent interest, Jones remains firmly grounded.
“I can remember times where people didn’t care about what I was doing or what I was minting. Recent times have been a huge contrast to that, and it’s a big change. I’m grateful for it.”
Influences
Jones singles out American visual artist George Condo as his No. 1 influence.
“I’m a fan of a lot of artists, but George Condo is my favorite for sure. A lot of my early work was pretty much Condo-like copies.”
“I also have to give shoutouts to Edward Hopper (American realist painter and printmaker), Hiroshi Guy (Americano pop style painter), David Hockney (English painter, printmaker and photographer), Phil Hale (American figurative painter), Yue Minjun (Chinese contemporary artist).”
“You’ve also got Takashi Murakami and Mpcoz who are doing amazing things in NFTs.”
Personal style
Jones’ style is simplistic yet fascinating. It takes you to places in your mind and draws out memories you may not have thought of for years or even decades.
“I describe my style as a kind of a blend of pop art from around the ‘80s. I was definitely inspired by that a lot. Pop-Precisionism is how I like to speak about it — it’s a sub-genre in a sense.”
“I’m working to capture that feeling of nostalgia and that feeling of imagination, like when kids think anything is possible. I want to attempt to reignite that spark in us as adults now.”
In true Jones style, the devil is very much in the details with a number of his creations.
“I come from a religious background where angels and devils are a thing. It’s interesting because I think they exist but for me they don’t look or act necessarily anything like we think of them. For example, angels are like angelic figures with wings; they’re perfect, and they’re glowing. And with the devils, they are these red figures with the horns and all that stuff. I don’t feel like either of those necessarily look like that if they do exist,” says Jones.
His “Joy and Wonder” series led to a collaboration with notable NFT project Aku Akutars, founded by former Major League Baseball player Micah Johnson.
“The Akutars’ collaboration with Micah was great. Before I was connected with Micah, I had lots of people telling me that my space boy character reminded them of the Akutar character. It was an easy yes for me when Micah reached out. I had already been thinking of different…
cointelegraph.com