The Hole is proud to present Regionalism, a solo exhibition by Ben Jones.

For his third solo show with the gallery, the Los Angeles-based artist returns to his roots—both geographically and aesthetically. Regionalism draws from Jones’s upbringing in Massachusetts, channeling a distinctly New England sensibility. As he puts it, the show aims to reflect “where I was as an artist before I learned about the internet.”

Seven years after his last solo outing with us (Road Trip II, 2018), this exhibition marks a much-anticipated return to painting and the physical act of showing work. Since relocating to LA, Jones has been widely known for his groundbreaking animated television projects. Behind the scenes, however, he has quietly continued his studio practice—now with more time for research and less pressure to perform. This new body of work reveals a shift toward the tactile and handmade, stepping away from the digital aesthetics of his past. Gone are the collaborations with artists like Cory Arcangel hacking Nintendo cartridges or the immersive installations of video-mapped projected realities. In Regionalism, we get only oil and wood.

In recent years, Jones has immersed himself in early American regionalist painting, with its distinct compositional logic and historical significance. That research, especially focused on the art and architecture of New England, has gradually shaped both his animation and his fine art practice. This exhibition showcases new paintings and a wood installation inspired by Shaker furniture, drawing from the curious overlap between Western architecture and pagan symbology. It’s a Venn diagram where narrative meets design, and where heritage becomes a speculative tool.

Wood shingles and handmade frames appear throughout the show as a kind of love letter to process. By bringing the ethics and aesthetics of carpentry into his painting practice, Jones replaces the glow of the screen with the grain of the wood: he never got a splinter while rendering video. But this isn’t a Luddite gesture—it’s a recalibration. I might call it a re-rooting from a futuristic visionary doubling back to honor his foundational visual values. We can’t wait to see what he’s built.

Ben Jones holds a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA. Jones has exhibited works in a variety of solo and group exhibitions internationally at MOCA Los Angeles, Loyal Gallery in Sweden, MACRO Museum in Rome, the Bergen Kunsthall in Norway, Max Wigram Gallery and the TATE in London, Peres Projects in Berlin and Deitch Projects, Foxy Production, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Hole in New York, NY, among others. His most recent solo exhibition was at ACE Gallery in Los Angeles, his most recent museum solo at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas. His work has been discussed in Art in America, The New York Times, i-D, Tokion, and ArtReview.

Jones’ work is a mash-up of all of his passions in life, with equally balanced influences from music, graphic design, technology, entertainment and art. His works seem to envision a minimalistic version of the future, pulsing with sharp color and an ambiguous narrative regarding where technology seems to be driving our culture.