It is a foregone conclusion that for artists anywhere to rise to International prominence, if that be their mission, many pieces of a puzzle need to coalesce with Lady Luck for that achievement:
ARTIST Critiques & Exhibits of the works of developing artists in Schools (such as our Edna Manley College of Visual & Performing Arts); later Studio Visits by top-tier Museums (Curators) & Galleries & Collectors; Magazine Buzz (Artforum International etc); the awarding of Prizes (e.g., Britain's Turner Prize: £25,000); Art Fair Exhibits (e.g., Art Basel in Miami); the fortunate few whose art gets to the grande Auction Houses (Christie's etc ); and finally to top off prestigious showcasing, the most scintilating display of all...the Venice Biennale in Italy.

At the Venice Biennale this year, the Bahamas, for the first time, was represented in a key setting on the long trail of the countries submitting or selected, with a potpourri of Latin Americans countries & individual artists (dead or alive) included in the curator's theme: The Encyclopedic Palace. Cuba strutted their stuff in the city center.

Yet, when any discerning eye looking at the energetic and youthful Art emerging in Jamaica, we have nothing to to be timid about. Jamaican artist's engagement in a visual communication of local/globally relevant imagination can satisfy our deeper instincts & reasonings. A new exhibit of ten "emerging artists" at the National Gallery of Jamaica is a treat of diversity.

Whether this Art is your cup of tea (questioning whether the emperor is wearing clothes!), or speaks to the archival permanence of the "Masters", can be debated, but in an interactive communication with materials, the rapidity and fragility of messaging, and "sensational" effects/details capturing the easily distracted, these aspiring artists deserve attention in a cruelly difficult marketing environment.

"The artists are making a bold statement, and it is also a path-breaking initiative by the gallery," said Monique Barnett-Davidson, curatorial assistant at NCJ. "As the artists and their works move away from convention, it is also defining their inference of the society at large and issues facing it."

Smythe-Johnson added that the exhibition also reflects a new willingness on the part of the artists to intervene actively in the social environment. "They have done it in a way that reflects genuine social responsibility, empathy and respect for others, and a sense of humour.

"They have reflected a moment of undeniable crisis, globally and locally, in which the older, postcolonial search for cultural affirmation (and 'roots') has been replaced by a new willingness to acknowledge and embrace uncertainty and instability..." Nicole Smythe-Johnson (Senior Curator of NGJ)

Gleaner Link: Rooted Outside Tradition--National Gallery At New Roots: 10 Emerging Artists Exhibit
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130901/arts/arts1.html


Polar Eclipse: The Bahamas Debuts at the Venice Biennale
The Bahamas is one of ten countries participating for the first time in the 2013 International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (1 June – 24 November, 2013). Tavares Strachan, along with co-curators Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs, will transform the Bahamian pavilion through a unique multi-sensorial environment including video, sound and neon-light works, around the theme of Polar Eclipse, which explores themes of displacement and belonging.

Strachan has stated: ‘I’m fascinated by the idea of being in two or more places at once, and exploring difference that way… The way that the Venice Biennale, historically and now, deploys the idea of difference as cultural tourism is an interesting problem to work with.’ To explore those themes, Strachan’s exhibit, entitled Polar Eclipse, brings together three sites – the Venice Arsenale, downtown Nassau and the North Pole – that are geographically and culturally distinct. By weakening the nationally-defined model of the Biennale’s National Pavilions, Strachan asks viewers to question their own ideas of displacement and belonging to a certain place.
(Reference: The Culture Trip-The Bahamas)


The Colour & The Shape: Regional Art from the 54th Venice Biennale
http://theculturetrip.com/central-america/costa-rica/articles/federico-herrero-t he-colour-and-the-shape

BIG UP...All our Treasure Beach Artists "Exhibited" on TB.Net's Art Gallery site!

Jamagination...an inexpensive way to be exposed to "quality" Reproductions from known Jamaican artists, until your disposable income climbs to the stratosphere, and you can fill your castle with Originals.

Jamagination is a primarily web-based art dealership specialising in prints. They boast a collection of artist-certified prints that rival the originals even to the discerning eye. The prints are all produced using giclee technology.

Giclee prints are high resolution, high quality reproductions. The inks are pigment-based and lightfast and the resolution so high as to produce smooth colour transitions instead of dots like your desktop printer. The resulting print is printed on canvas or paper, and is of archival quality which will last for decades to come.

Gleaner Links:
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051009/arts/arts1.html

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080113/arts/arts3.html