M Brooks Jones

M. Brooks Jones was a New York-based artist, graphic designer, and early practitioner of computer art. He received a BA in sculpture from Florida State University and earned an MFA in conceptual art from the Pratt Institute.

Brooks Jones produced illustrations for popular gay-interest publications including the first issue of Honcho and Mandate during the 1970s. He created a large mural for the Bulldog Baths in San Francisco "depicting men having sex among semi trucks parked in the moonlight." [1] The mural remained on permanent display at the baths until 1991 and was later exhibited at the San Francisco sex club Eros in 1996 before entering the public collection of the GLBT Historical Society. [2]

Brooks Jones began exhibiting professionally at Good Company gallery in New York in 1980 and at the Leslie-Lohman Gallery in 1981. He was a participant in the Electronic Art ‘85 exhibition at the 7th edition of ArtExpo NY. 

In 1982, Brooks Jones began working extensively with Apple II computers. He regarded the computer as a means of exercising complete control over the production of an image. [3] Brooks Jones served as vice-president of the Graphic Artists Guild of New York where also held the position of chair of the Computer Arts discipline. A 1991 edition of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook was posthumously dedicated him.

[1] Donna J. Graves and Shayne E. Watson, Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco (San Francisco Planning Department, 2016), p. 88.
[2] Ira Tattelman, "Presenting a Queer (Bath)House", Queer Frontiers: Millennial Geographies, Genders, and Generations, eds. Joseph A. Boone et al. (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000), p. 257.
[3] Michael L. Callery & Roberta Schwartz, Apple Graphics Tools and Techniques (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall 1984), pp. 273-274.