Clive Stuart's "Cock A Doodle Do" is the June artwork of the month. A part of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas' (NAGB) permanent exhibition, Bahamian Domestic, the work is comprised of two separate but complementing mixed-media pieces showing the familiar sights of an inner city community.
The piece was selected by NAGB intern and education assistant Christina Wong. Also a COB art student, Wong joined the NAGB team as a temporary assistant during the installation of the NAGB's newest temporary exhibition, Celebrating 40 Years of The Central Bank: A Pillar of Arts Commitment. Though the show opened on June 2, Wong has stuck with the NAGB staff in preparation for the gallery's Mixed Media Art Summer Camp, which opens Monday.
Using her time as a staff assistant wisely, Wong has gotten her feet wet in the day to day activities involved in events planning and keeping a gallery operational. Taking a break from stretching canvases for campers, Wong selected a June artwork of the month. "Cock A Doodle Do" often catches the eyes of younger visitors, who identify the paintings' imagery with ease. One of the pieces sports a dog - categorized quickly by onlookers as one of the class of local mixed breeds, known as "potcakes" and a multitude of small homes crammed into a small space. For Wong, it is reminiscent of older times, though the pair was completed in 2006.
"To me it looks like it's based on the old Nassau, because the houses are so close. I feel as though back then everybody was closer, their houses were in the same yard, because a lot of people weren't able to afford a different property, so most families would be on the same property."
Even though it might remind her of times gone, the scenes found in "Cock A Doodle Do" can be seen on any drive down a back road in the Over the Hill community. Stuart makes room in his paintings to feature familiar backyard landscapes clothes sway on a line in the breeze; a native chicken calls attention to itself, reminding onlookers of the domestic birds that can often be found straying from their roosts, pecking at the roadside.
Through their construction and alignment, the works might be interpreted as windows looking out from one of the paintings' modest homes. At the base of the canvas is wood paneling, a common construction material found in many an inner city home. The effect of "Cock A Doodle Do" is one that allows visitors to envision being inside one of these familiar houses, possibly elevated by limestone blocks, looking out on a small Nassuvian community.
To see "Cock A Doodle Do" and more artworks of the month, visit the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. Located on West and West Hill Streets, the gallery offers free admission to locals every Sunday; throughout the month of July, locals can visit the gallery free of charge every day, as Central Bank of The Bahamas covers the cost of admission in the spirit of Bahamian independence.
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