WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2007
Bahamian artists making a mark Bahamian artists on show at the National Gallery WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2007
Visitors are often surprised by the large footprint The Bahamas is pressing into the sports and entertainment worlds.
Bahamians number fewer than 350,000?the population of a medium-sized town in Europe or North America. Yet the little country has produced gold-medal Olympians and big-time athletes, including boxers, baseball players, sailors and track and field stars. The islands also claim Oscar-winner Sidney Poitier and rock legend Lenny Kravitz as native sons.
As well, there?s a host of renowned entertainers and musicians from yesteryear, going back to the 1930s when Nassau was a wintertime hang-out for the world?s wealthiest and most celebrated stars.
But the isles of perpetual June, as somebody once called them, are also a greenhouse of artistic creativity, with several highly regarded painters, sculptors, photographers and art impresarios in the limelight.
One of these is Tavares Strachan, a Nassauvian whose experimental works are creating waves from New York to San Francisco.
In 2005, Strachan brought back a 4.5-ton block of ice from a frozen river in the far north and exhibited it in Nassau?bringing the subarctic and the subtropics together for the first time, and in one of The Bahamas? warmest months.
Many other Bahamian artists have made an enduring mark outside the country, including Max Taylor, Brent Malone, Jackson Burnside III, primitive painter Amos Ferguson and Eddie Minnis, along with a number of feisty young artists who shun traditional art forms and see new ways to express the Bahamian experience.
That group includes John Cox, John Beadle, Lillian Blades, Dionne Benjamin-Smith, Blue Curry, Michael Edwards, Heino Schmid, Clive Stuart and Antonius Roberts?all of whom have exhibited internationally. One example of that is a local show entitled Funky Nassau that was recreated in 2006 in Germany.
Roberts, along with fellow artist Tyrone Ferguson, created ?Sacred Spaces,? which includes an acclaimed series of statues fashioned from casuarina tree stumps on a cliff overlooking the ocean in western New Providence.
Gallery of Bahamian art With all this artistic ferment, it?s no surprise that Bahamian governments have found the money to create a showcase for the visual arts in Nassau.
The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) opened its doors in 2003 and, while it is still putting together its permanent collection, is well worth a visit to view some of its stunning early acquisitions.
NAGB is housed in Villa Doyle, one of the most impressive older private homes in Nassau, located on the corner of West Street and West Hill Street.
The oldest section of the mansion, looking toward the harbour, was built in the 1860s by William Henry Doyle, then chief justice of The Bahamas. The southern wing was added in the 1920s by Sir Walter K Moore.
In its heyday, Villa Doyle was considered to be the finest building in Nassau and West Hill was thought to be the most beautiful street in the entire Caribbean area.
Refurbished between 1998 and 2003, Villa Doyle still commands one of the finest views in Nassau.
An extensive mission Writing in the gallery?s newsletter, curator Erica James said a groundswell of support, fuelled by the work of a handful of local artists and cultural workers, brought the NAGB into existence.
Today, James says, the gallery is continually working to fulfill its mission, which is to become a true Bahamian institution, ?financially, curatorially and educationally but also by reaching a wider portion of the Bahamian people.?
Holly Parotti, curatorial assistant to James, explains that ?during the year we put on lectures and artist forums, we invite regional and foreign artists to give a talk on their work. We also offer films on a monthly basis, mostly art related, the type you normally won?t find on TV or in general circulation?these events are free and open to the public.
?In addition we also have workshops for children and adults, as well as additional lecture series. Basically once a week there is something happening at the NAGB.
?We are the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, hence our aim is to make sure Bahamian artists are recognized and to provide a solid place for their works to be viewed.?
One of James? most cherished objectives is to set up a specialized research centre for the study of Caribbean art, attracting scholars from around the world. ?How does the Davies Institute for the Study of Caribbean Art sound?? she asks rhetorically, referring to Dawn Davies, who is a highly respected collector in Nassau.
Collectors? exhibitions Augmenting the shows are loans from private collections and items gathered together for special exhibits. One of these was a series of watercolours by Gaspard Le Marchant Tupper, a British military watercolourist from the mid-1800s, in a collection owned by Amanda and Orjan Lindroth.
Another was ?Past Present and Personal,? which featured works from the Dawn Davies? collection.
These ranged from a harbour scene by G H Clements (1854-1935) to a contemporary mixed-media street scene by Jace McKinney (1983- ) and a piece by Amos Ferguson (1920- ). A former house painter, Ferguson signs off each piece ?paint by Mr Amos Ferguson.?
Rolfe Harris was born in Nassau in 1942. Self-taught, he captures a wide variety of island environments, including marine subjects. His well-known Night Fishing shows two fishermen working their lines aboard a rocking dinghy, illuminated by a swaying lantern.
Ms Davies? recent acquisitions include works by John Beadle, Kendal Hanna, Clive Stuart and many others.
?I have a growing interest in collecting sculpture for the garden, including some wonderful pieces by Tyrone Ferguson and Antonius Roberts.
?I do not consider myself qualified, nor do I like to rate our Bahamian artists, many of whom are my friends. I enjoy and collect works by most of our artists, but I buy a piece because I like it, not because it was painted by anyone in particular.
?There is a growing awareness of Bahamian artists on the global scene,? says Davies, noting that Funky Nassau was well received.
?Tavares Strachan is making his mark in international circles. Then there?s the encouraging international exposure of Michael Edwards, Antonius Roberts, Heino Schmid, Tyrone Ferguson, John Beadle and others, all taking Bahamian art to another level ? it?s all very encouraging.?
Two prominent artists with works in the Davies collection are Eddie Minnis and Brent Malone. Multi-talented Minnis With a dozen albums to his credit Eddie Minnis needs no introduction to fans of calypso music. A prolific songwriter and singer, he is also a well-known artist. Vibrantly Bahamian in style, his canvases are prized by collectors around the world.
Small wonder daughters Nicole Minnis-Ferguson and Roshanne Minnis-Eyma spent their formative years learning art from their father?s knee. Both are award-winning artists, sometimes getting together with their dad to mount family exhibitions.
Over the past few years, Minnis was able to visit Europe and to study the great masters previously available to him only in the pages of a book.
?My interest in art started when I was in primary school,? Minnis told Welcome Bahamas. ?It was something I always enjoyed. By the time I got to secondary school art was my favourite subject, absolutely my passion ? when I wasn?t doing academic work, I was painting.
?I was influenced by fellow Bahamians of course; however, I also loved the impressionists, Monet and Van Gogh being among my favourites. I loved works by the impressionists because they worked outside ? .?
Minnis began painting at the age of 13. ?I got my start at an institute called the Chelsea Pottery ? I went there after school and on weekends. It was an exciting environment that gave me encouragement and much inspiration, both from the artists and the potters.
?My interest really grew from there. Many Bahamian artists, Brent Malone, Max Taylor, a leading potter and painter, struck out from there, as did painter Kendal Hanna.
?In 1965 I?d abandoned the brush and started oil paintings with a palette knife. While in London, I came upon one remarkable Van Gogh?a grassy landscape?very similar to one I had done back in the early ?70s. The only difference? His pathway in the composition started on the left, mine was on the right.
?Sometime later I saw the works of other impressionists, [and that] confirmed I was heading in the right direction ? .?
Brent Malone No Bahamian artist is better loved or admired than the late Nassauvian master, Brent Malone.
Trained in London, Malone?s work demonstrates polish and careful craftsmanship but, unlike other painters who develop and stick to a personal style, Malone kept moving on. Marysa Malone keeps her father?s memory alive at Indigo Cafe, in which she is a partner. It?s a favourite meeting place at Cable Beach, beautifully decorated with paintings by Malone and others, including Max Taylor.
Marysa recalls growing up with a genius who, she admits, had yet to sell his first canvas when she was a little girl.
?From my earliest years I had the sense he was a very special man. Bahamians have always had a deep appreciation for art and artists, more so than I see in other countries. Even before he started making money from art, people always referred to dad as ?the artist.??
Marysa took an early interest in art herself. ?I relished watching him work, creating wonderful images of flowers, animals, boats, especially people.?
The boy Malone grew up in relative poverty. ?He kept a box underneath the house crammed with dried bird bones and assorted treasures, then he would spend untold hours drawing them,? says Marysa. ?His parents were so poor they could not afford to buy enough paper. He would literally fill up every corner of paper.?
Malone?s early work includes typical Bahamian art, boats, palms, flamboyant trees, fishermen and others. Later, he turned to nudes and religious compositions such as Madonna and Child (1992).
In contrast Inner Journey, Malone?s vibrant Dali-like study, shows two timepieces suspended in an unreal space peppered with asteroid-like rocks.
?Dad had changed his style and his subject matter. I think he was just growing ? he didn?t want to be typecast, he needed to be exploring things that were not as tangible, like religion or emotions.?
While not a religious man, Malone was spiritual and studied Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, says Marysa. The crucifix shows up in much of his later work and peace doves appear in his work from the 1970s. He enjoyed working with gold and silver leaf.
Malone?s exhibition of nudes in 2001 was well received in Nassau, despite some criticism. ?Dad always found great inspiration in the beauty of the human body, as in nature, as in everything,? says Marysa.
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WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2007