Born 1930 in Augusta, Georgia. Spent his youth in South Carolina and went to New York in 1949. Was drafted into the army and dismissed in 1952. From 1954, began to create works using flags, numbers, and targets. Coincidentally lived in the same building as another artist of the same generation, Rauschenberg, and they became friends.

While Rauschenberg's works crept out of their 2D frames, Jones' works drew 2D things like maps and targets on a flat plane. He didn't create "illusions" of 3D things on 2D planes, instead his works stressed the painting itself as a "thing", as a flat "object". Also made works such as "sculptures" of beer cans cast from bronze and colored.