[Many thanks to Annie Paul for bringing this exhibition to our attention.] Jamaican artist Roberta Stoddart’s latest exhibition, “The Tear Catcher,” opens on October 7, 2018, at the Y Gallery (located at 26 Taylor Street, Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad). The exhibition will be on view until October 27, 2018. See an interview of the artist, “Roberta Stoddart talks ‘The Tear Catcher.’”

“I paint what I love and fear. My technical practice and subject matter are inseparably intertwined, grounding and liberating the other in turns. Honouring the tradition of painting, I push the boundaries of what I know, experimenting with subject matter and technique.

I find enthusiasm and peace in the search for meaning. Ongoing inspirations for my work are death and fear, rejection and isolation, unrequited love and loss, disillusionment and grief. I find the world a sad place, even with all of its blessings. The Tear Catcher collects my tears.

The mystery of faith – trusting goodness – is life to the heart. I paint with dark colours to signify the active existence of soul residing beneath my awareness. In the Dark Night, I find that love is my heart’s deepest desire.

Our Stone Age ancestors forged the first black pigments from fire, purifying charcoal from bone. Black endures – soulful, fecund, mystical, ritualistic, symbolic – resurgent and eternal. Black has secret splendor, depth and possibility, traversing between worlds, conjuring up infinity.”

-Roberta Stoddart

For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/Y-Art-Gallery-261047643933212/

Kansas City, Missouri’s major cultural event (dubbed the Kansas City Arts Experience) includes a major exhibition, on view in various venues across the city from August 25 to October 28, 2018. Among the Caribbean artists included are Alexandre Arrechea (Cuba), Ebony G. Patterson (Jamaica), Lee Quiñones (Puerto Rico), and Paul Anthony Smith (Jamaica).For those of you in the area, you have two more weeks to view their work!

Description: Forty-two renowned and emerging local, national and international artists have been selected for the exhibition component of Open Spaces 2018. Work by the artists is exhibited from August 25 through October 28, 2018 throughout Kansas City, Missouri, with Swope Park serving as the exhibition hub. The 42 exhibition artists represent ten countries and four continents as well as nine different states in the U.S. The nine-week, citywide celebration of contemporary visual and performing art will happen on a scale previously unseen in the City, and with a multi-disciplinary focus unseen in the country. In addition to highlighting Kansas City’s rich history and cultural heritage, creativity, innovation and wide array of artists and artistic practices, Open Spaces is meant to spark new ideas and initiatives that can transform and connect the City and public spaces through the arts.

[Above: Alexandre Arrechea’s “Meat and Music,” at Swope Park. See https://www.artskcgo.com/event/meat-music-alexandre-arrechea/.]

For more information, see https://openspaceskc.com/exhibition/

Jamaican artist Patrick Planter will have his debut exhibition, hosted by Experience Jamaique art gallery in Geneva, Switzerland. The show will open on Saturday November 24, 2018, at 34 rue du Nant, in Eaux-Vives, Geneva, from 3:00pm to 8:00pm.

Planter got his scholastic start at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts where he trained with renowned Jamaican photographer Donnette Zacca who introduced him to the profession. Notably, he includes Zacca’s work as one of his main inspirations. He is the former Membership Coordinator and Artistic Director of the Edna Manley College Photography Club.

In 2016, he made his professional foray into photojournalism when he began his career at popular Jamaican newspaper publication The Jamaica Gleaner. There, Planter worked as a freelance photographer on assignments ranging from sports and news to human interest and entertainment, before migrating to Switzerland in 2017. Planter’s photographs have been published in publications including Sunday’s Outlook, The Flair Magazine, The Daily Gleaner and The Star. [. . .]

For more information, see http://www.worldmagazinejam.com/2018/10/jamaican-art-expo-in-switzerland-2018.html

Also see https://www.experiencejamaique.com/

Jamaican-American artist Simone Leigh—who has a solo show at the New York gallery Luhring Augustine and was selected as the inaugural winner of a High Line series of large-scale commissions—is the 12th artist to receive the Hugo Boss prize. Robin Pogrebin reports for The New York Times:

The Brooklyn-based artist Simone Leigh, whose sculpture has been the subject of increasing attention, on Thursday evening was awarded the Guggenheim Museum’s prestigious Hugo Boss Prize, which recognizes achievement in contemporary art.

“Leigh has consistently expanded the possibilities of ceramics, which is her principal medium and one that has long been undervalued within the mainstream art world,” the jury said in its statement. “We are particularly compelled by Leigh’s longstanding and unwavering commitment to addressing black women as both the subject of and audience for her work.”

Ms. Leigh, 50, has for more than 25 years explored the experiences and social histories of black women through the ceramic tradition. She currently has a solo show at the New York gallery Luhring Augustine. And she has been selected as the inaugural winner of the High Line’s new series of large-scale commissions, which will be unveiled in April.

The 12th artist to receive the biennial Hugo Boss prize — which is named after its fashion company sponsor — Ms. Leigh will receive an award of $100,000 as well as a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim in April 2019.

The other finalists were Bouchra Khalili, Teresa Margolles, Emeka Ogboh, Frances Stark and Wu Tsang.

[Photo above: Simone Leigh by Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times.]

For original article, see https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/arts/design/simone-leigh-guggenheim-hugo-boss-prize.html

Also see http://www.artnews.com/2018/10/18/simone-leigh-wins-2018-hugo-boss-prize/ and the artist’s page at https://www.simoneleigh.com/

Eileen Kinsella (Artnet) writes, “Look for her work across New York next year and catch the final day of her Chelsea show.” See below 3 out of 5 things that you should know about the artist, according to Kinsella. However, a 6th point should be that, because Leigh grew up in a Jamaican household, in her exploration of the African diaspora, she often focuses on the Caribbean, specifically, on Jamaican culture. This comes through in some of her series and exhibition titles, such as “…if you wan fo’ lick old woman pot, you scratch him back” (Jamaican proverb). For more examples, see her artist’s page. [Also see our previous post, Simone Leigh wins Guggenheim’s Hugo Boss Prize/.]

Chicago-born artist Simone Leigh is having quite a year. On Thursday, she won the prestigious Hugo Boss Prize for 2018, the latest in a string of accolades including art prizes, prestigious commissions, and solo exhibitions. The award comes with $100,000 and a solo show at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, slotted for this April. Leigh, who is the 12th artist to receive the award, was selected by a jury of international critics and curators. The award, made possible by fashion designer Hugo Boss, was established in 1996 to recognize significant achievement in contemporary art and is overseen by the Guggenheim.

Though Leigh’s star has been rising fast, audiences beyond the contemporary art world are just beginning to become familiar with her oeuvre. There will be plenty of chances to see her work in New York in multiple locations in the coming year. In the meantime, here are five things to know about the artist.

1. She focuses on African art and ethnography.

Leigh’s practice—including sculpture, video, and installation—reflects her ongoing exploration of black female subjectivity and ethnography. Her artworks frequently incorporate materials and forms traditionally associated with African art and the African diaspora, while her performance-related installations often blend historical precedent with personal stories.

At the most recent edition of the Art Dealers Association of America-backed Art Show at the Park Avenue Armory, Leigh presented a row of eye-catching ceramic female busts with rosette heads and torsos fashioned out of raffia palm. They quickly sold out, the New York Times reported, to prominent contemporary collector and FLAG Art Foundation founder Glenn Fuhrman. Other buyers took notice and it “may have been the moment” when the artist moved into the mainstream, the Times said.

2. She is the inaugural artist for the High Line’s new “Plinth” program.

Leigh, who now lives and works in Brooklyn, was the first artist selected for the High Line’s new “Plinth” program, a rotating series of large-scale artworks that will be installed on the elevated park on the far West Side of Manhattan at Tenth Avenue and West 30th Street. For the Plinth, Leigh created Brick House, a 16-foot-tall bronze bust of a black woman whose torso is conflated with the shape of a skirt and a clay house. The figure will stand tall on the Plinth, looking out over Tenth Avenue. The April unveiling will coincide with her Guggenheim show,

5. The Hugo Boss Prize is just the tip of the awards iceberg.

In addition to the Hugo Boss Prize, the artist has received a Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant (2018), a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2016), and the Anonymous Was a Woman Award (2016). Beyond awards, her work has been in high demand for the last few years. She was included in the New Museum’s “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and as a Weapon” (2017), as well as “The Waiting Room” (2016) and Creative Time’s project, The Free People’s Medical Clinic (2014). She also had a solo exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in 2016.

See full article at https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/artist-simone-leigh-hugo-boss-1376050

In Trinidad and Tobago’s Newsday, Marshelle Haseley reviews the work of Jamaican artist Di-Andre Caprice Davis (“Artist: Don’t be afraid to be different”). Last month, the Kingston-based artist recently exhibited the interactive installation Not Your Kind of Artist: Part 1–Influences at Alice Yard (80 Roberts Street, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad). Here are excerpts:

Jamaican experimental artist Di-Andre Caprice Davis says creating work with the power to educate and inform is important, especially for young people.

The self-described artist said, “I try to create work that grabs the attention, which is where my work includes a lot of features of cognitive psychology – capturing the mental process of creating work.” The Kingston-based artist recently had an interactive installation at Alice Yard, 80 Roberts Street, Woodbrook. Entitled Not Your Kind of Artist: Part 1–Influences, it included the collaborative creative energy of art lovers who visited the installation between October 25 and 27.

Davis explained, “I would like to utilise the framework of this title to shed some light on what are often misunderstandings which occur when the viewer becomes more engaged with the artist’s personality and lifestyle – and less with interpretations and experiences possibly generated from the artwork itself.”

She described her conceptual work as an educational interactive installation, which focuses on her personal influences such as cognitive psychology, mathematics, information technology, science and sound, or music.

“I pay close attention to language use, memory and how people think. Which also embodies concepts of problem-solving, and anything related to the development of a person and his or her mental health.”

This was part one of a four-part series “which reflects the things that inspire me to create work,” she explained.

Abstraction, computer graphics, GIF art, glitch art, photography, surrealism and videography are also included in her practice.

Art is evolving and continues to move away from what is generally considered traditional fine art, and Davis believes the need to label and categorise the artist can result in potentially negative stereotypes that may hinder the creative process.

She said she was happy to gain the involvement of youth, among them students from Queen’s Royal College and Holy Name Convent, with whom she enjoyed interacting most, “talking to them about their own development.” She said much of the work was said to be thought-provoking art, due to the heavy influence of mathematics, and the amount of thought required by those who attended and participated. The uncommon approach to art and the consumption of art was welcomed by attendees. [. . .]

Davis attributes her open-minded approach to art to the artistic environment within which she was raised: her home was “a space where you could be anything you wanted to be.” She also said the support of her family, who embraced her changes and innate traits, helped her to develop as a confident artist. [. . .]

For full review, see https://newsday.co.tt/2018/11/16/artist-dont-be-afraid-to-be-different/

Also see http://aliceyard.blogspot.com/

[Photo above: Horacio Hospedales participates in the formation of part of Davis’ installation. His word was AIR converted to decimal. Participants were allowed to choose and use the numbers in any way they chose.]

“In the Lush Landscape of Ebony G. Patterson’s New Exhibition, Fashion Plays a Powerful Role,” writes Chioma Nnadi (Vogue). She is referring to “While the Dew Is Still on the Roses,” Patterson’s new solo show at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.

Walk through “While the Dew Is Still on the Roses,” Ebony G. Patterson’s new solo show at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, and it’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. At first glance, the scene appears like a serene moonlit garden. A magical, pearl-encrusted tapestry lies at your feet sprigged with crochet flowers, like pink peonies in full bloom; appliqué banana leaves dusted with glitter are plastered on the walls; bunches of red, orange, and white carnations form the colorful topiary-style sculptures dotted around the space.

But don’t be fooled: This is no earthly paradise. Something ominous lurks in the bushes. Entangled in the lush flora and fauna of her work, discarded pieces of clothing suggest a missing person’s report. A ghostly, frosted glass sneaker is nestled in a bed of flowers. And wait—is that a headless body lying in the grass? Dismembered black and brown hands and feet? Then it dawns on you: A dark spirit blights this enchanted place. Dangling from the ceiling like a murderous flock of vultures circling an open grave are hundreds of women’s shoes, dipped in sparkling black paint.

Though Patterson’s work seems to be teeming with life on the surface, her art confronts death head-on, specifically the untimely deaths of black and brown people. Her seductive multimedia pieces are designed to pry open the thorniest conversations around race and social injustice that continue to plague our society. And in this highly fraught tableau, fashion and style play an important role.

To gather the 756 pairs it took to build her shoe cloud—one of several site-specific new works in the show—Patterson put the call out on social media, asking friends to donate their old shoes. The Jamaican artist, who splits her time between the Caribbean and the States, also trawled the thrift stores of Lexington, Kentucky, where she teaches. “I remember making one trip to Goodwill, and picking up so many shoes that the cashier turned to me and said, ‘Nobody’s ever going to believe that I rung up $300 on one bill,’ ” she says. Like sneakers strung up on phone lines, the resulting piece is a public memorial of sorts, bearing witness to a host of souls unknown and unseen.

Source: https://www.vogue.com/article/ebony-patterson-perez-art-museum-miami-christian-louboutin

[Photo above by Oriol Tarridas.]

The National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) is hosting “Beyond Fashion: Artist Talk,” with Jamaican artists Lucille Junkere, Yasmin Spiro, and Phillip Thomas. The event—moderated by curator O’Neil Lawrence—will take place on December 15, 2018, at 1:00pm. The talk is related to the exhibition “Beyond Fashion,” which closes on January 15, 2019.

Description (NGJ): The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to present the first of two Artist Talks for its current exhibition Beyond Fashion on Saturday, December 15 starting at 1:00 pm. Beyond Fashion seeks to explore the capacity for fashion themed or influenced art making to reflect and interrogate complex personal and societal histories. The exhibition also questions the supposed distinctions between art and craft. These concepts will be explored in the context of this exhibition during this session.

The discussion will be moderated by the exhibition’s lead curator O’Neil Lawrence and the panelist will include exhibiting artists Phillip Thomas, Yasmin Spiro as well as researcher, indigo dyer and artist Lucille Junkere. The panel discussion is free and open to the public. Persons in attendance will also have an opportunity to view the Beyond Fashion exhibition which will close on January 15, 2019.

[Photograph above: Detail from Jasmine Thomas Girvan’s “Rooted” is by Michelle Jorsling.]

The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to announce that their most recent exhibition, “Beyond Fashion,” has been extended until February 24, 2019. The gallery announced that this decision was a result of the exceptional reception the audience has given to this multi-textured exhibition. If you have not seen “Beyond Fashion” as yet, we highly encourage you to do so.

Description (NGJ): Beyond Fashion takes a deeper look at the relationship between fashion and art and how they may be integrated to produce works that speak to a variety of concepts. In this exhibition there are a myriad of art forms, such as photography, quilting, installation, and jewelry, to name a few.

See more at https://nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/beyond-fashion-extended/

Recently, ArtNews announced “Deborah Anzinger: An Unlikely Birth,” which will be on view from April 26 to August 11, 2019, at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are excerpts from a press release by R & A (Resnicow and Associates, 18 December 2018):

On April 26, 2019, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (ICA) will present the first US solo museum exhibition of Jamaican artist Deborah Anzinger. Deborah Anzinger: An Unlikely Birth brings together sculpture, video, painting, and installation, combining both synthetic and living materials, to consider geographical, ecological, and spatial paradigms. The exhibition reveals how the artist disrupts existing relationships and hierarchies as they pertain to the politics of land, the body, and space. Deborah Anzinger: An Unlikely Birth is curated by ICA Whitney-Lauder Curatorial Fellow Daniella Rose King and will be on view through August 11, 2019.

Working at the intersection of black feminist thought, geography, and space while coalescing concerns Anzinger has long held, Deborah Anzinger: An Unlikely Birth explores a plethora of issues urgently facing our civilization—the environment, the economy, and human rights–and their aggressors, capitalism, and globalization. Through the work on view, Anzinger offers intimate networks and alternative ways of being in the world as possible answers to these intersecting problems. Thinking through reproductive labor, the transference of energy, and sanctuary, the artist compounds these fields with the testimony of individuals from Jamaica as a means of re-centering marginalized voices.

[. . .] Speaking to the range of media Anzinger employs in her work, she states “The materials I bring into the paintings (aloe, polystyrene, and mirrors) embody a more complicated understanding of existence and relation to the ‘other.’ By presenting alternative narratives that challenge their traditional associations and meanings, such as transforming polystyrene into support systems for living plants, I attempt to share the envisioning of new, more equitable paradigms for value and space.”

Highlighting alternative models of being, Anzinger cites local ecological programs in Philadelphia and Kingston, including; alternative waste water systems; stormwater and rain gardens; and community gardens and urban farms undertaking important work around sustainable organic food production and composting. In the exhibition, the artist will amplify these approaches and models taking place on differing scales.

In Anzinger’s work we see the erosion of boundaries between the body and the land, as well as a re-envisioning of geography through the lens of black feminisms. Her artistic approach facilitates a new way of interrogating, understanding, and reckoning with the realities of the current Anthropocene age, considered to be the first geographical period where human activity has irreversibly affected the environment, as both a psychological and social space. In Deborah Anzinger: An Unlikely Birth, Anzinger astutely and intuitively traces the interconnectedness of economy, subjectivity, environment, history, individual action, and societal responsibility in her work through an array of complex and multifaceted forms, textures, material, and environments. Works featured in the exhibition will burst open the seams of the conservative, regressive, and inherited beliefs tightly held throughout western civilizations, and offer openings and opportunities to rethink the challenges and catastrophes facing our present and future realities.

Source: https://resnicow.com/client-news/first-us-solo-museum-exhibition-deborah-anzinger-open-ica-philadelphia

Also see http://www.artnews.com/2019/03/04/spring-preview-the-most-promising-museum-shows-and-biennials-around-the-world/

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents “Loophole of Retreat,” by Jamaican-American artist Simone Leigh, winner of the Hugo Boss Prize 2018 [see previous post Simone Leigh wins Guggenheim’s Hugo Boss Prize]. The exhibition will be on view at the Guggenheim Museum (1071 5th Avenue, New York) from April 19 to August 4, 2019. The following description focuses on Leigh’s artistic trajectory, which spans sculpture, video, and social practice, and is “continuously and insistently centered the black female experience.”J

Loophole of Retreat presents a new body of work by Simone Leigh (b. Chicago, 1967), winner of the Hugo Boss Prize 2018, an award for significant achievement in contemporary art. The exhibition’s title is drawn from the writings of Harriet Jacobs (1813–1897), a formerly enslaved abolitionist who pseudonymously published an account of her life. It refers to the grueling seven years she spent hiding from her master in a tiny crawl space beneath the rafters of her grandmother’s home—an act of astonishing fortitude that carved out a space of sanctuary and autonomy in defiance of an unjust reality. Over the course of a career that spans sculpture, video, and social practice, Leigh has continuously and insistently centered the black female experience. Her forms, rendered in materials such as ceramic, raffia, and bronze, unify a timeless beauty with valences that are both deeply personal and piercingly political. Summoning the ancient archetype of the female nude and inflecting it with vernacular and folk traditions, the artist merges the human body with domestic vessels or architectural elements, evoking the labors of care and protection that have historically fallen to women. Encompassing a suite of sculptures and a sound installation, as well as a text by the renowned historian Saidiya Hartman, Loophole of Retreat explores narratives of communal nurture, resilience, and resistance.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a daily program presenting films by Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich. For more about Leigh’s work, read an essay by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts excerpted from the catalogue accompanying the 2018 award:

DOWNLOAD ESSAY (PDF)

The Hugo Boss Prize 2018: Simone Leigh, Loophole of Retreat is organized by Katherine Brinson, Daskalopoulos Curator, Contemporary Art, and Susan Thompson, Associate Curator, with Amara Antilla, Assistant Curator.

Source: https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/hugo-boss-prize-2018

Curated by Veerle Poupeye, “Resonances” is a one-day exhibition consisting of selections from the 2019 Edna Manley College Final Year exhibition, which will be on view on Sunday, June 30, from 11:00am and 4:00pm, at 132 Harbour Street, Kingston. The exhibition—which includes work by Joni P. Gordon, Mark Robinson, Leanne Mair, Trishaunna Henry, Yulanah Mullings, and Keisha Walters—is presented in association between Kingston Creative and the School of Visual Arts, Edna Manley College, and forms part of the Kingston Creative Art Walk program on June 30. See the VP Projects blog for more information.

Resonances features six young artists: Trishaunna Henry (BFA Sculpture), Joni P. Gordon (BFA Photography), Leanne Mair (BFA Painting), Yulanah Mullings (BFA Painting), Mark Robinson (BFA Painting), and Keisha Walters (BFA Painting). They work in media ranging from ceramic and aluminium to wood, paper and cardboard constructions, to paper and textile collage, and ranges from miniature scale to very large. Each of the six artists makes use of the resonant potential of the object and the image to speak about more than itself and to invoke stories about social, cultural and historical subjects as diverse as the experience of the Jamaican urban environment and the car culture; the personal traumas of racism, migrant work and childhood sexual abuse; the dilemmas of genetic engineering; and the historical and contemporary cultural significance of shoes. The exhibition is curated by Veerle Poupeye, an art historian specialized in Caribbean art and an independent curator and writer. Dr Poupeye is also a lecturer at the Edna Manley College.

The use of the 132 Harbour Street, a beautiful early 20th century warehouse space which is under renovation, as a pop-up exhibition venue for this project also illustrates the potential of such buildings in Downtown Kingston to serve as galleries and other cultural spaces, as the dream of the Downtown Kingston Art District is beginning to take shape.

All are welcome to view the Resonances exhibition on June 30, which will be open at 132 Harbour Street between the hours of 11 am and 4 pm. The venue is just around the corner from the National Gallery parking and will be clearly marked. The artists will be present to talk about their work. Complimentary ice teas will be offered by Jamaican Teas Ltd, who also made the space available. The Jamaica Gleaner Company is sponsoring art transport and print work.

[Above: Detail from work by Yulanah Mullings.]

For more information, see https://vpprojects.wordpress.com/resonances-june-30-2019/

The National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) is pleased to announce the appointment of O’Neil Lawrence as the institution’s new Chief Curator.

As a member of the senior management team Lawrence will oversee the active exhibition programme at the National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ, Kingston) and National Gallery West (NGW, Montego Bay), as well as the stewardship and development of Jamaica’s national art collection.

Chairman of the board, Senator Tom Tavares-Finson says: “In the over 10 years that our new Chief Curator O’Neil Lawrence has served the iconic National Gallery of Jamaica, he has grown into the perfect candidate for this challenge. His wide depth of knowledge of Jamaican and Caribbean art will serve him well as he begins this stage of his career.  His curatorial skills have been honed under many Jamaican and international curators including the late Chief Curator, the Hon. Dr. David Boxer O.J. The Board of the NGJ joins me in welcoming our new Chief Curator and we look forward to great new developments at the NGJ.”

Lawrence’s expertise is home-grown. He began working at the NGJ in 2008 as an Outreach Officer before joining the staff full-time in 2009 and serving as a Curatorial Assistant, Assistant Curator, and Senior Curator (a position he held since 2013).

As Senior Curator, his over thirty-five exhibitions included the critically acclaimedSeven Women Artists (2015) and Masculinities (2015-2016). He was the co-curator of the NGJ’s largest multi-site exhibition Jamaica Biennial 2017 and led the curatorial team for Beyond Fashion at the NGJ and I Shall Return Again at NGW. Both exhibition openings broke NGJ and NGW records for attendance and have been hailed as the Gallery’s most successful exhibitions to date at their respective locations.

“I have been surrounded by art my entire life,” Lawrence says. “My father was an artist. My friends are artists. And I am an artist. I have worked alongside a team that has developed an exhibition and events programme at the Gallery which engages an increasingly wide audience and with the support of the Board and all stakeholders, I look forward to leading them in even more ambitious creative collaborations.”

Lawrence’s new role as Chief Curator is pivotal to the continued development of the NGJ’s programming and scholarship to its historical standard. Says Dr Jonathan Greenland, Senior Director of the National Gallery: “I have watched O’Neil’s careful and systematic development of his skills as a gallery professional for years and I know that with his leadership and strong curatorial abilities, he will continue the momentum at the National Gallery and help us to reach new heights.”

Lawrence acknowledges the persistent myth that a space like the gallery is only for the wealthy and that the work is too abstract for people to find relatable but, he says, “There is something for everyone at the National Gallery no matter who you are and we want you to come and discover it. Our art matters because our stories matter – the National Collection illustrates our experiences as a culture and I will continue to pursue mutually beneficial partnerships in and outside of our borders—particularly in the Global South— in keeping with our stated mission “to promote our artistic heritage for the benefit of present and future.”

[Credit: Paulo Freitas / Glamurama]

Source: https://nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com/2019/06/30/national-gallery-of-jamaica-appoints-oneil-lawrence-as-chief-curator/

Committed to celebrating and promoting diverse cultural roots through the arts and culture activities, and by promoting African American and Caribbean artistic talent, Hampton Art Lovers presents “The Awakening,” a solo exhibition of works by Basil Barrington Watson featuring sculptures and sketches. This exhibition will open on September 27, 2019, at the Historic Ward Rooming House (located at 249 Northwest 9th Street in Miami, Florida) and will be on view until November 16, 2019.

Description:  “Awakening” is the solo exhibition of works by Basil Barrington Watson featuring sculpture and sketches. The Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment CRA (SEOPW) is the sponsor for the show. The gallery hours are daily 11am-6pm, Wednesday through Saturday. Private showings can be made by visiting //www.hamptonartlovers.com/events/basilwatson-awakening.

Basil Watson: Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and the son of internationally renowned painter Barrington Watson and the first student of color to attend the Royal Academy in London, it was a natural progression for Watson to study at the Jamaica School of Art. Upon graduation, he went on to establish a successful career as Jamaica’s leading sculptor. The Government of Jamaica awarded Basil the Order of Distinction (Commander) in recognition of his contributions in the field of art. The most notable of his achievements include having monumental works on three of Jamaica’s primary universities and signature works at the two of the Island’s major stadiums.

“The human form is often forgotten as a true artistic subject without the vanity that so often it has become in the 21st century. Basil Watson reminds us all through his amazing ability to a capture the human form that it’s the spirit that lifts the form to life. That is the ‘Awakening’ he illustrates and thus the title of our exhibition,” states Christopher Norwood, co-founder of Hampton Arts Lovers.

After emigrating to the United States in 2002, Watson established his home and studio in Lawrenceville, Georgia, right outside of Atlanta. Having continued the steep climb to international recognition, he has completed major works in China, Guatemala, and in various States within the United States. Additionally, over his 40-year career, Basil has completed several major commissions for multiple governments and organizations all over the world.

Most recently Basil created monumental works for his island home honoring accomplished Jamaican athletes, like Olympic champions Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce along with others, and cultural icons like The Hon. Louise Bennett as well as the National Heroes. Basil is currently working on a 12-foot sculpture of Dr. Martín Luther King Jr. commissioned by the City of Atlanta.

Watson work focuses on the representation of the human figure. Through the exploration of the language of the figure, he explores the emotions and spirit of his subjects, seeking the naked truth above all. Watson has worked assiduously at developing technique, and knowledge of the human figure, but most of all, an intrinsic understanding.

About Hampton Arts Lovers: We inspire the appreciation of African-American Fine Art. We honor the heart and soul of Fine Artists and make their work discoverable by anyone who loves art. Hampton Art Lovers believes that understanding culture, whether our own or others’ is becoming increasingly vital in the modern world. We live in a knowledge economy where demonetization is rampant. It is a world in which technology can render previously expensive and/or inaccessible products and services much cheaper-or even free. Learning hard is the knowledge economy currency, and lovers of art do this naturally. Hampton Art Lovers believe that through culture and education, we can improve our communities and communities all over the world.

Instagram: @hamptonartlovers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hamptonartlovers/

[Many thanks to Veerle Poupeye (Critical.Caribbean.Art.) for bringing this item to our attention.] “Affinities”, featuring work by Trinidad-based artists Chris Ofili and Jasmine Thomas-Girvan is on view at David Zwirner-London until September 21, 2019. Rianna Jade Parker (Artforum) writes:

A twenty-year artistic conversation between Trinidad-based artists and friends Chris Ofili and Jasmine Thomas-Girvan unfolds sparely but elegantly in “Affinities,” an exhibition of recent works that highlight each artist’s recent takes on folklore, rituals, and the prolific Caribbean landscape. Ofili’s latest oil and gold leaf paintings are kaleidoscopic and grand as ever. For Kiss (Odysseus & Calypso), 2019, Ofili puts the Greek king—rendered with dark skin and coiled hair—in a bed of water, entwined with his lover Calypso, here a mermaid boasting teal, orange, and purple scales (she’s described throughout Homer’s epic as “lustrous Calypso” and “the nymph with lovely braids”). Throughout the room hang ten smaller watercolor-and-pastels from the series “Vessels,” 2019, where the lovers reappear many-hued and in winding formations, oblivious to everything but each other.

The second floor of the show is given over to Thomas-Girvan, a lesser-known Jamaican-born artist whose early experience as a jeweler and avid collector of small objects lost and found inform her finely wrought assemblages and installations. In one sculpture, Medicine for All Things, 2016, a figure poses in profile arms akimbo, sporting a glinting beak and an inky, ectopic human heart. Slim arms pin the hips of a golden torso, under which ravens circle inside a silver crinoline. More striking is the skeletal ark of metal that sits undisturbed atop the subject’s beret, where an abundance of gray palm fronds poke out of miniature corked glasses to form an eerie botanical garden. Who knows what else might grow?

[Above: Jasmine Thomas-Girvan’s “Medicine for All Things” (detail), 2016, wood, bronze, glass, silver and recycled wheels.]

For more information, see https://www.artforum.com/picks/jasmine-thomas-girvan-and-chris-ofili-80725

Emma Lewis (Global Voices) writes about “Kingston Creative,” emphasizing that “this is art that nurtures creatives and builds communities.”

Founded in 1692, the densely populated, 22.7 square kilometre city of Kingston, Jamaica — now called “downtown” — is where you will find the country’s Houses of Parliament, Supreme Court, the Institute of Jamaica (a long-standing cultural and scientific organisation) and a number of important heritage sites.

Yet, Jamaica’s capital city has become neglected over the past few decades, as both commercial and residential districts moved into “uptown” St. Andrew, leaving sections of the old city in decay. In addition, the perception of higher crime rates in downtown Kingston kept many uptowners away — an absence that has had a domino effect. Although it is now under refurbishment, cultural sites like the historic Ward Theatre have suffered, for both financial support and audience patronage.

Enter Kingston Creative, a collaborative effort with a 10-year vision to “nurture artists and creative entrepreneurs, build community and collaborate with others in a creative space.” The collective aims to provide training, resources and an environment that empowers entrepreneurs to generate economic and social value from their businesses, and forge pathways to reach global markets while positively impacting their own local communities.

With the involvement of 100 volunteers, more than 20 community groups and 100 engaged stakeholders, Kingston Creative is a 700-strong organisation that has managed to secure local corporate sponsorship for its ongoing #PaintTheCity mural project.

But the initiative doesn’t stop at art. Veteran guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith, for example, has incorporated his evolving “Inna Di Yard Binghistra Movement” — a musical concept included in his monthly Groundation jam sessions — into the project. Groundation most popularly refers to the Rastafarian holy day which marks Haile Selassie’s first visit to Jamaica in 1966, but Smith has expanded the term to encompass his vision of keeping the roots of reggae music alive with a classical music infusion. His efforts have been quite successful: A recent session he hosted on Water Lane featured a Kumina group led by Rastafarian drummer Bongo Shem and attracted a good turnout.

Art Walks, which take place on the last Sunday of each month have also become increasingly popular. Each walk has a different theme (children, food, dance, literature, etc.) and participants are never disappointed. On August 25, 2019, Kingston Creative unveiled an augmented reality mural by artist Bernard Hoyes. [. . .]

See full article at https://globalvoices.org/2019/08/27/kingston-creative-breathes-new-life-into-jamaicas-downtown-district/

[Many thanks to Veerle Poupeye for sharing this via Critical.Caribbean.Art.] Le Centre d’Art has shared a call for applications for Jamaican women artists to participate in a one-month art residency in Haiti. The deadline for submission of applications is before midnight on November 1, 2019.

Description: For this segment of the residency programme, Le Centre d’Art will host one Jamaican artist for one month in Haiti from January 15th to February 15th, 2020.

Le Centre d’Art will fully bear the costs of residency. The artist will be provided with a workspace, tools and supplies and housing. In addition, the artist will receive per diem to cover all food and transportation expenses throughout the residency. The ticket and the visa will also be covered by Le Centre d’Art.

Moreover, the team of Le Centre d’Art will facilitate access to public and private art collections and cultural activities. The artist will visit artists’ studios, and will give a class on a specific art technique at Le Centre d‘Art.

Le Centre d’Art is located in the heart of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The artist will be housed in a neighbourhood close to Le Centre d’Art and will be able to work within the institution.

TERMS OF APPLICATION – Residency in Haiti, January 15th – February 15th, 2020

Electronic files and any other request should be sent by email to info@nlskingston.org, contact@lecentredart.org, and Cc judithmichel@lecentredart.org before November 1, 2019, midnight (GMT).

For more information, go to http://www.lecentredart.org/actu/call-for-applications-jamaican-artist/?

Ebony G. Patterson’s “… to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil …” opens on October 24, with a reception from 6:00 to 8:00pm, at Hales Gallery, 547 West 20th Street, Chelsea (New York, New York). The exhibition runs through December 20, 2019.

Description: Hales is delighted to announce …to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil…, an exhibition of recent works by Ebony G. Patterson (b. 1981 Kingston, Jamaica). In her first solo exhibition with the gallery, Patterson continues with her exploration of gardens, an essential arc of her practice. This exhibition comprises of a new series of monumental paper collages which take their departure from Patterson’s celebrated touring solo exhibition, …while the dew is still on the roses…, which first opened at Pérez Museum of Art Miami (November 2018), and is currently on view at Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (through January 5, 2020).

Patterson began working on the collages in this exhibition in her studio in Jamaica, before completing them on a residency at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, AR, in 2019. Alongside this studio-based series, the artist has been planting a physical garden as a test site, inspired by the poisonous garden at Alnwick castle, UK. Patterson has planted with no regard for traditional hierarchy, instead allowing poisonous plants to grow alongside those with healing properties – thereby becoming a garden of survival.

In Patterson’s work, she explores the idea of the garden as both real and imagined, in relation to the procurement and legacies of postcolonial space: “I am interested in how gardens – natural but cultivated settings – operate with social demarcations. I investigate their relationship to beauty, dress, class, race, the body, land and death.” (Ebony G. Patterson, 2018)

For …to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil…, the artist has moved into the undergrowth of a garden gone awry. Luscious, bright plants bursting with untameable life lure the viewer closer. Amidst the vegetation, objects are unearthed – discarded shoes and children’s toys create an uncanny feeling, whilst beneath the leaves are twinkling eyes and silhouetted limbs. With an eerie absence of a body, the scene slowly reveals itself as ominous.

Patterson states that she uses beauty as a tool to trap the viewer ‘physically, psychologically and emotionally’ in an intricate and seducing composition. Shrouding figures almost completely – there is a presence of bodies no longer there, raising pertinent questions about the those who are not visible. People become memorialized in Patterson’s gardens – each piece is a marker for bodies overlooked. Life fervently continues, and those who live in the garden persist in finding ways to survive.

With the sensibility of a painter, Patterson works across multiple media, consistent in her visual language and intention. Here, she revisits paper, refining her use of embellishment, while still seeking the ‘shine’ aspect of her work in order to draw attention to political concerns. The rich collages resonate with earlier tapestries – no longer restricted by a distinct frame, the works sprawl outwards. The open-ended quality of each piece is reflected in the poeticism of their titles, which come to Patterson while she is creating the work. Her use of ellipses references the nature of remembering, piecing together fragments of truth. Holes, cuts and tears puncture the surface of the paper, implying a violent act, reminiscent of gun shots fired. The ground is both image and skin, perforations and negotiating lines reveal an absence.

In this latest series, Patterson has distilled her imagery – the symbolism has more subtlety, but the gravitas remains. Studio photography is combined with scanned images sourced from botanical tomes and animal anatomy books, as well as fake butterflies and real moth specimens. Drawing on the tradition of vanitas and memento mori, there are biblical references to themes of betrayal and death in animal form.

In …to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil… Patterson continues to deftly combine splendor with danger. Framing the garden as an active site of power, Patterson explores it as a metaphor for postcolonial space and an extension of the body. Juxtaposing visibility and invisibility; death and survival, Patterson’s works remain filled with an overwhelming sense of hope – in the toughest of circumstances, life will always grow. [. . .]

For more information, see https://www.halesgallery.com/exhibitions/147/installation_shots

Alexandra M. Thomas (Hyperallergic) reviews Ebony G. Patterson’s latest exhibition in New York: “…to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil…” She writes, “At Hales New York, Patterson’s collages meditate on the entropy and delicate elegance of our natural and built environments.” Ebony G. Patterson …to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil… is on view at Hales New York (547 West 20th Street, Chelsea) through December 20, 2019.

Umbrella and soggy notebook in hand, I sprinted into Hales Gallery on a rainy day in New York City. Jamaican artist Ebony G. Patterson’s collaged ecosystems embody the antithesis of a gloomy, rainy day. Indeed, the current exhibition of Patterson’s work, entitled …to dig between the cuts, beneath the leaves, below the soil… has immersed the white cube in flora and fauna that radiates off the walls, transforming the gallery space into a garden.

The exhibition includes six large-scale collages, each of which contains its own particular ecosystem. Analogous to the romantic phrases that serve as the title of each collage, Patterson’s formal practice traces a poetics of the garden — meditating on the entropy and delicate elegance of our natural and built environments. Each collage is rich with allegory and significance. There are real, preserved butterflies that evoke life, and handcrafted ones that reveal the artist’s touch. Snakes and other creatures portray the biblical influence in Patterson’s work, and items such as discarded toys and shoes that appear seemingly out of place in the lush vegetation, alluding perhaps to a human presence.

The symbolism present throughout Patterson’s work forms a semiotic web in which Christianity, British greeting cards, and plants native to Jamaica are foundational to the composition of these collages. These influences mobilize the philosophical inquiries of Patterson’s creations: notions of life and death, (trans)plants and the concept of “native” versus “foreign” species of flora and fauna, and nature and the built environment. This recent body of work on view at Hales Gallery is a phenomenal supplement and counterpart to Patterson’s traveling solo exhibition — …while the dew is still on the roses… — presently on view at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky through January 5, 2020.

[Image above; photo by Stan Narten: Ebony G. Patterson, “…sunsets swarm, as frogs leap through the reeds as cockerel enters the bus to see a pair of leopards…” (2019).]

For original article, see https://hyperallergic.com/532254/ebony-g-patterson-transforms-the-gallery-into-a-garden/

The exhibition “Iyami Aje” [the womb of existence, my mother God] by Katrina Coombs will open on March 7, 2020, at 6:00pm, at the Gene Pearson Gallery (R Hotel, 2 Renfrew Road) in Kingston, Jamaica. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]

Iyami Aje means ‘the womb of existence, my mother God’ in Yoruba. The term references the spirituality of woman and the seminal role played by women in all creative processes. This exhibition of new works features textiles and fibre pieces that reference the highly spiritual ancestral relationships that are central to understanding womanhood. Traditionally, textile and fibre techniques are used to communicate various symbols, values, mores and energies, as evidenced by the material culture of many indigenous groups around the world with a tradition of working with these materials. These traits are often transferred from generation to generation through the transference of spiritual energies and rites of passage. Katrina Coombs’ work is deeply rooted in the spiritual and regenerative resonance of the woman’s body as a vessel for cosmic powers and arcane secrets of creative biology. Iyami Aje therefore presents collectors, gallery owners, art enthusiasts, art patrons and other members of the art scene with a wholesome engagement into the spiritual nature and complexities of womanhood, which is quite fitting for International Women’s History Month, 2020.

Katrina Coombs works are inspired and guided by a quest to deepen the spiritual, emotional and psychological understanding of the numerous conflicting roles that have been attributed to women in contemporary society, especially by those who are closest to us. Through the use of fibrous material, her works explore the impact and intrusion of the ‘Other’ on the ‘I’. The ‘Other’ in representation of either an external or internal being to the self. Her works seek to provide a voice for woman’s spirituality in coexistence with her roles, her body, and her womb. The pieces on show address issues which are often considered taboo to speak of. These are framed within the psychological concept of the presence and absence of an Other. Often, the Other prevails and creates a structure and void of neurotic divergence. The female body, as a spiritual enterprise of the maternal structure, is a regulator of relationships with the Other. Her textile and fibre pieces’ function as symbols of spiritual connections to the ancestral realm of the woman, the daughter and the m’O’ther. Often autobiographical, Coombs’ works also investigates the role of the woman’s body as a sanctuary, a vessel and a portal through which energies pass and the ‘I’ becomes absent. The artworks on show here are manifestations of emotional celebrations and conflicts.

Katrina Coombs was born in St Andrew, Jamaica. She holds a BFA with Honours in Textiles and Fibre Arts (2008) and a Certificate in Curatorial Studies (2009) from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. In 2013, she obtained an MFA in Creative Practice from Transart Institute via The University of Plymouth. Coombs has a passion for fibre and an understanding of the sensitivity of threads and fabric, which she uses to bring forth unique designs and sculptural forms. Her practice focuses on the impact of the Other on the “I”, and the role and existence of the woman. She weaves and stitches fibres and textiles as ways of engaging the ambivalent and stigmatizing ways society engages the female persona. Coombs’ work has been featured in numerous international exhibitions in Kingston, Manila, Berlin, New York, Bogota, Miami, Chicago, and Washington. She lives and works in St. Andrew, Jamaica.

For more information, see https://katrinacoombs.wordpress.com/2020/02/20/iyami-aje
https://www.facebook.com/events/206997797353039
https://www.facebook.com/genepearsongalleryjm