Welcoming a new work into our Collection: 'Lick your teeth, they so clutch' by Rachel Jones
Posted on 09 June 2021We have acquired a new work by Rachel Jones for the Towner Collection, generously presented by the Contemporary Art Society.
Lick your teeth, they so clutch, 2021 is a work by Jones, who is one of the most exciting young artists working today. Having only recently completed her MA at the Royal Academy Schools in 2019, Jones has already exhibited internationally and nationally including at the Royal Academy and the New Art Centre, Salisbury, alongside Gillian Ayres. She was awarded the André Dunoyer de Segonzac Hon RA Prize in 2019 and the Machin Foundation Painting Prize in 2018.

Sara Cooper, Head of Exhibitions and Collections, said, “Through her bold and intense paintings, Jones explores ways of finding a visual language through which to convey abstract concepts. Using shape, form and composition she creates a tension in her work that is enhanced by her balance of rich colours, from warm, fiery reds to cool blues and greens. She creates texture through her layered use of oil paint and oil sticks, applied to imperfect, raw-edged canvases, producing work that almost resemble landscapes. Jones has questioned how the black body has been read and depicted through the history of art, researching the representation of black figures in the arts from the eighteenth century and in contemporary society, and addressing it by pulling these explorations into her own work. Recently she has been using abstract forms of mouths and teeth to suggest a literal entry point to the interior and the self. Lick your teeth, they so clutch, 2021, stems from this wider body of work investigating identity and representation of self. Through this seemingly abstract and visceral painting, Jones is inviting the viewer to see something of her own presence and lived experiences. “
Jones’s work joins the 5000 plus works in the Towner Collection.
“We are delighted to be acquiring this work at a time when we are keen to investigate and address an historic lack of diversity and under-representation of women in public collections. With a long-standing mission of acquiring and exhibiting young and emerging artists, we look forward to showing Jones’s work in the context of our rich and varied collection, in the gallery spaces at Towner,” Sara added.
Keep your eyes peeled for when you will be able to see this work on display at the gallery soon!