INTRODUCING

Christina Leslie's Portraits

Saturday, December 5, 2009

DEFINING DIGITAL part 1

This season Disney launched The Princess and the Frog(img. 1) with much hype. The fact that this was going to be the first African-American Disney Princess caused the media to take notice and was Disney’s main press kit. Another fact surrounding its production caused me to take notice: Disney had reopened its 2D animation department. That department closed around the period of Home on the Range and The Emperor’s New Groove as more efficient animation...

Monday, October 26, 2009

Exhibition Billboard Project

Exhibition Billboard can be found here on Facebook and an interview with one of its founders, artist, Camille Chedda follows belowWhat is Exhibition Billboard and what is the idea/ aim behind it? Exhibition Billboard Jamaica is a facebook group I created to inform people of exhibitions or art events in Jamaica and exhibitions featuring Jamaican artists internationally. This applies to all visual arts i.e fine arts, applied arts and includes...

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Annalee Davis: ON THE MAP

Annalee Davis, experienced visual artist, activist, designer tells us about a recent project, ON THE MAP, a documentary video project. For artists who are interested in venturing into making documentaries and some activist projects, Davis sets an example. What is 'On the Map' about and what does it seek to achieve? ON THE MAP is a thirty minute video project airing intimate discussions with undocumented Caribbean migrants who speak of life between...

Monday, October 12, 2009

Shaving Bob Marley and giving you the finger.

Yuli Kande's (寒出 優里) works from Kyoto Current Living in Kingston, made me realise many things. One of which is that Bob Marley is one of the nation's most imaged persons in public spaces. Visiting Kyoto Current a couple weeks ago at Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art allowed me to see the image that is familiar but now represented differently. The Bob Marley portrait is just one of several large iconic portraits done by Yuli Kande. From an...

Friday, October 2, 2009

VISUAL ACTIVISM: Phillip Rhoden's viewpoint

concept for "High school Drop out"Phillip Rhoden was among the recent group of final year students mounting their final exhbition at The Edna Manley College. His body of work was pointed out to me as making a particularly individual statement about contemporary image-making. He seems to point to a newer directions at the college where the ideas approaches are interdisciplinary. In a year where you have a Visual Communications student having a 'painting...

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Under the Sea

Journeyman Pictures has released a film showing the under water sculptures of UK artist Jason de Caires Taylor. Haunting and surprising but it mostly puts me in mind of what Laura Facey's sculptures like 'Redemption Song' might look like if Kingston became and Atlantis. The sculptures are placed offshore Grenada and are meant for people to view and interact with. How do you think we are meant to relate to underwater sculpture? See the video preview...

Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Fashion Industry – Ambassadors of the Jamaica Brand?

Recently, I came across a series of fascinating articles on the Australian Fashion industry and how it was being positioned to service the Australia brand internationally. Indeed Austrade’s (Australian Trade Commission) National Manager, Rob Sutton commented that:‘The Australian Fashion industry isn’t just about fabrics, frocks and fanfare, but one of the key cultural ambassador industries. Fashion is one of Australia’s key creative and design industries...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

POSTMUSEUM & The Downtown Story

In June 2007, I received a strange email. It said I had received the Commonwealth Arts & Crafts Award. I fell into deep disbelief. I still don’t believe it even though I can however recall the frustration I was experiencing in my artistic career when I applied, the months of tiring planning, the newness and out of body emotions of being in my host country, the many lessons learned about acting as administrator as well as artist simultaneously...

Friday, May 15, 2009

Glee Club and Folk Music

Got this video sent to me in a forwarded email. I think in case you didn't get to see it, here is the opportunity. To view a an interesting moment of cultural transference/ borrowing/ appreciation etc. What do you think about this rendition, the interpretation and what it means for Jamaican music and culture. How do you feel about thi...

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Searching for Jollywood

I am among many persons concerned about or at least curious about the lack of a thriving film industry. We want so much to have the tangible evidence of the creativity and richness of our storytelling tradition in that most glamorous and cool of cultural industries. We are proud of the handful of critically acclaimed films but we still wonder what can be done to jumpstart the way. Many in the authority roles in the country have tried form starting film festivals, holding forums and conferences, sponsoring proportionately big budget productions,...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

National Biennial 2008: Ebony G. Patterson

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifWatch Petrine Archer-Straw's interview with Ebony PattersonInterview by Nikki-Ann Chambers What inspired you to do this piece?The kind of hypocrisy that is evident in our Jamaican culture. We “bun out” “batty man” which is seen as a kind of feminist thing yet the real men and the “ganstas” dress better than women, wear questionable women clothes, bleach [which used to be a woman ting] and pretty up more than most...

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

National Biennial 2008: O’Dwayne Wilson

Interview by Peta-Ann Smith, Jan. 26, 2009 PS: Based on your displayed work, the figures appear to be dressed as high-ranking Catholic clergymen. Did the fairly recent child abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church inspire this particular piece?OW: Yes the recent events have influenced me to do works examining the role of the clergy and religion on a whole. But then what really did it for me was the film ‘Deliver us from Evil’ which was a...

Alphonso Dunn Emerges

Some time ago, I heard from Alphonso Dunn. He had recently left the New York Academy of Art and just beginning to build his body of work. He had left Jamaica while still a teenager and was interested in his connection to Jamaica, which was evident through his work. I began plans to feature this artist next on this blogspot. Suddenly, Alphonso disappeared from our radar and time passed. Alphonso has recently resurfaced with exciting news of new directions,...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

LECTURE @ National Gallery: Reframing Slavery

Dr. Krista Thompson to Present 2009 Edna Manley Memorial Lecture on Thursday, March 5 at the National Gallery of JamaicaThe Edna Manley Foundation, in association with the Edna Manley College and the National Gallery of Jamaica, is pleased to present its 2009 Edna Manley Memorial Lecture, Reframing Slavery: Photography, History, and Re(Memory) by Krista Thompson. The lecture will take place at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston Mall, on Thursday,...