Master Artists of The Bahamas

Mon, Apr 22nd 2013, 05:29 PM

Master Artists of The Bahamas Thursday, April 25, 2013 7pm to 9pm National Art Gallery of The Bahamas

On its final leg, this travelling exhibition—which has been shown at the Waterloo Center for the Arts in Iowa and the Museum of Fine Arts in Tallahassee, Florida—comes home to The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas.

Instigated by the Waterloo Center for the Arts (WCA) and filmmaker Karen Arthur—whose many films include “Brent Malone: Father of Bahamian Art,” and “Amos Ferguson: Match Me if You Can,” among others—this project was initially conceived to raise the profile of Bahamian art in the United States and bring the work of Bahamian artists to new audiences. Filmmaker Arthur, with her partner Thomas Neuwirth, had finished producing the Island Films production “Artists of The Bahamas” and this inspired the Iowan curators—Cammie Scully and Kent Shankle—to stage the show, focusing on the artists featured in the film.

Alongside the WCA’s own stunning collection over 65 Amos Fergusons, the beginning of their fascination with Bahamian art, they gathered work by the other artists — John Beadle, Jackson Burnside, Stan Burnside, John Cox, Kendall Hanna, Brent Malone, Eddie Minnis, Antonius Roberts, Dave Smith, Max Taylor—to form a stellar show, which has been re-curated here in Nassau to include some entirely new works.

Tailored for the local audience, while still appealing to international visitors, the show is re-installed in such a way as to extrapolate new meanings and connections between the works and is an outstanding testament to our Bahamian art and culture. On view, among other works, will be the last ever painting of the beloved Jackson Burnside, as well as new works from his brother Stan Burnside’s most recent show, which opened on Valentine’s Day, (Jackson’s birthday), works that grapple with issues of love and loss. During the run of show, all of Island Films’ library will be screened, free of charge, including the latest in the series “Jackson Burnside III, Native Son,” on Saturday evening, April 27th in the presence of the film's director.

As a response to this show and the original film “Artists of The Bahamas”_—which at its opening caused some controversy for its lack of female participants—the NAGB has also installed a powerful show in the ground floor galleries entitled SINGLESEX_ in an effort to reclaim art history, including women into the discourse.

At the NAGB’s inaugural show—the INE in 2003—female artists represented only 24% of the roster; at the last NE6 the ratio was strict 50/50; now we present a show that is 100% women, a show that holds its own with work by Chantal Bethel, Dionne Benjamin-Smith, Dede Brown, Jessica Colebrook, June Collie, Christina Darville, Erica Moiah James, Sue Katz, Shan Kelly, Sabrina Lightbourn, Candis Marshall, Jessica Miller, Nadine Munroe, Holly Parotti, Barbara Pearless, Leanne Russell, Tamara Russell, Nora Smith, Giovanna Swaby and Elyse Wasile.

The cultural expectations of femininity are being deconstructed and in many works, reconstructed. SINGLESEX broaches the questions; how do females project female identity in their work and how does one define a feminine artwork rather than a masculine artwork? Has there been a transformation in the visibility and practice of female artists in our nation? What does this mean for the landscape of Bahamian art? Even further, what do these numbers mean for the growing and strengthening community of female Bahamian artists?

Seen as pendants to one another, the two shows “Master Artists of The Bahamas” and SINGLESEX show the vast range of contemporary practice in our country by a myriad of talents in a stunning variety of media and materials.

– Amanda Coulson, Director, National Art Gallery of The Bahamas

Click HERE to view NAGB's website.

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