The dramatic social and cultural changes in Jamaica are themes behind a a new exhibit at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands that examines the art in Jamaica from the 1960s and 1970s.
The exhibition, which runs from March 22 to May 15, includes 35 pieces of artwork on loan from the National Gallery of Jamaica and local collections. The works feature a variety of media, styles and genres.
Among the artists whose works are showcased are: Edna Manley, Alvin Marriott, Christopher Gonzalez, Albert Huie, Barrington Watson, Osmond Watson, Karl Abrahams, Kacho and David Pottinger.
“This period of Jamaican history was a time of dramatic social and cultural change in which notions of nationhood were actively explored, and challenged, in local cultural production,” Kaitlyn Elphinstone, National Gallery communications and public engagement manager, said.
The artists of the mid-20th century nationalist school, such as Manley, Marriott, Huie and Pottinger, continued to build on their original interests with moderately modernist depictions of iconic local subject matter. The artists also responded to the cultural and artistic changes that took place around them, as evidenced by the introduction of abstraction, which pushed their work in new directions, according to a statement from the gallery.
“Similar developments could be seen in the work of artists who had emerged in the periphery of the nationalist school, such as Carl Abrahams and Gloria Escoffery, both of whom found their unique artistic voice in the post-independence period and added to the growing diversity of Jamaican art,” the statement continued.
NGCI director Natalie Urquhart added that the exhibit marks an important international collaboration between the two Caribbean galleries.
“[This exhibition] is an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the long-standing social, cultural and economic relationships between our two countries,” she said.
The exhibition was curated by Veerle Poupeye, director of the National Gallery of Jamaica, and acting senior curator O’Neil Lawrence.
Exhibit curator Veerle Poupeye of the National Gallery of Jaimaica will present a free lecture at 5 p.m. March 22 in the National Gallery’s Dart Auditorium. For more information, call 945-8111, or visit nationalgallery.org.ky.
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