MD Painter, Musician Featured In Tephra ICA Exhibition

Press Release: Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art

RESTON, VA — Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents the solo exhibition Always in the Land, featuring new paintings by Maryland-based artist Wayson R. Jones, on view at the Tephra ICA at Signature gallery October 16, 2025–February 7, 2026.

Wayson R. Jones is a painter, spoken-word artist, and musician. His life has been filled with art since grade school, including music, improvisational dance, performance, poetry, film, and all forms of visual art. As a self-taught painter, Jones’ work is grounded in an interest in material and the performative aspects of his previous art experiences.

Jones’ paintings are rich in color and highly dimensional. His dense surfaces are created by layers of graphite or pumice gel mixed with pigment to build paintings that break the traditional frame and pour into space. His use of the horizontal line helps build structure that is suggestive of natural phenomenon, such as the expansive horizon line at sea.

This series of new paintings asks viewers to explore our understanding and experience of physical space. Each of these paintings contains an invitation to let the artwork activate your full physicality, to feel the piece in your body beyond the act of seeing.

As part of Washington, DC’s pioneering, nationally prominent Black gay and lesbian arts scene of the 1980s and 1990s, Jones performed extensively with American poet and activist Essex Hemphill. The two performed in venues including Blues Alley and The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; and LaMama Theater, NY, New York. They also worked with filmmaker Isaac Julien (Looking for Langston) and videographer Marlon Riggs (Tongues Untied, Black Is/Black Ain’t).

He has had solo exhibitions at Hemphill Artworks, BlackRock Center for the Arts, Arts/Harmony Hall, Northern Virginia Community College, DCAC, and Prince Georges County Publick Playhouse. He received a 2017 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council, and a 2023 Artist Grant from the Belle Foundation. Jones’ artwork is in the collections of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Maryland/National Capitol Park and Planning Commission, The Hotel at the University of Maryland, and other public and private collections in the Washington, DC area and nationally. Jones received a degree in music from University of Maryland. He is represented by Hemphill Artworks in Washington, DC.

About Tephra ICA at Signature

Tephra ICA at Signature, located at the Signature apartment building (11850 Freedom Dr, Reston, VA) is an innovative satellite gallery space that presents a year-round schedule of exhibitions featuring work by local and regional artists as selected by Tephra ICA curatorial staff. Visitors are welcome Wednesday–Saturday, 11am–5pm. Free and open to the public.

Tephra ICA at Signature is provided in partnership with BXP and Bozzuto, and generously sponsored by Reston Community Center.

Tephra ICA main gallery is located at 1200 Market Street, #103, Reston, VA 20191

Tephra ICA is a non-profit, non-collecting institution committed to promoting innovative contemporary art and thinking. Leading with curiosity and care, the organization is a catalyst, generator, and advocate for visual arts. Tephra ICA is supported in part by Reston Community Center, Virginia Tourism Corporation, ArtsFairfax, Reston Town Center Association, and Virginia Commission for the Arts.

More information at tephraica.org.