Mutual Gallery closes one chapter and opens another?

Inside the Mutual Gallery during its closing period

For ten years The Mutual Gallery built its reputation as the most prestigious of Contemporary Art Galleries in Kingston. It was much like Jamaica's own White Cube or Gagosian Gallery. Many graduates from the Fine Art programme at The Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts, continually tested out their creative ideas via exhibition there. Artists who we made contact with continually repeated the same sentiment about The Mutual being the first place they debuted as a career artist. I can’t say this as I first exhibited at Gallery Pegasus with a group of colleagues from the Painting Department while still in my third year at the art college. It was controversial for students to be exhibiting in public at this time but we had it in mind that this was practice for the day when we could actually exhibit at The Mutual Gallery. This wasn’t by accident as The Mutual’s curator/ director, Gilou Bauer, over the period organized several shows which enabled the public and art students to see what the contemporary art scene was like.

Some of the works displayed for a closing auction

Over the years The Mutual organized various exhibition series, art competitions, talks and opening events that provided a haven for young and practicing artists searching for a receptive space for their work. The closure of The Mutual undoubtedly came as a shock for local artists all over. Rumours of it spread on Facebook and via email with July being the last month its doors were open tot he public. Though the closure was said to be due to changes in the arrangements between The Gallery and The Mutual Group administration, it is deeply unfortunate that some agreements could not have been reached to keep this institution going.

A corner of The Gallery exhibiting the work of The Intuitives

With this closure, the question has been asked of Bauer perhaps more times than can be counted: ‘What is next?’ The speed at which the closing and final arrangements had to be made have undoubtedly left little time to consider the future of The Mutual. It presents a unique opportunity for reinvention as well as new initiatives and offshoots. Maybe The Mutual’s model was not as adaptable to this new harsh economic climate in Jamaica which leaves collectors more hesitant than ever about purchasing art and companies less willing to be philanthropic. There are however other ways that the art market and system can evolve to suit these changes. What seems sure is that new initiatives may need to be techno-savvy, world-culture connected, and employ inventive and alternative initiatives. With new arts spaces like NLS and Roktowa in Kingston, commercial galleries in Kingston could be taking new directions. What directions do you think the art gallery in Jamaica should take to be more sustainable?

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An Artist at An Auction

The Mutual Gallery recently organized an auction of art by contemporary and/or emerging artists. This was a bold move by Gilou Bauer, the gallery's curator, as auctions in Jamaica have mainly been a haven for collectors of established artists. The auctioneer, William Tavares-Finson said it was his first auction for younger artists in his orientation talk. I suppose the art market in Jamaica, like several other places, needs stability and surety as works while being enjoyable also seem to be viewed as investments. The curator, auctioneer and artists involved where not certain the outcome and one of the concerns that arose was whether artists would be in attendance. As generally auctions proved to be unnerving experiences. Even highly saleable artists such as Damien Hirst stay away from auctions of their work. In the sale of his recent participation in the RED auction of contemporary art, he spoke of worrying whether it would at least make the 20 million dollar mark. While in Jamaica, we are far off from worrying about sums as large as this I was interested to find out how one artist who attended the auction handled it. The artist I have asked to speak about her experience is Stacy-Ann Hyde, a past winner of the JCDC Studio Prize Award. Her report follows:


"This was the first auction of any kind that I was attending so I was pretty anxious. The fact that I had work in the auction was very exciting but also made me a little nervous as I was not sure what to expect.

I saw work after work going up and coming down. Some works were not bid on at all, while some stayed on bid for quite a while. As they got closer to my works, I became a little tense as I did not consider my works as typical.

Unfortunately I had another engagement that same evening (pantomime) and I was already running behind. I had to leave before they got to my works however my bf was there and he stayed behind to give me the low down.

No one bid on my work...aaawww. I guess it was better for me not to have been there as I felt quite disappointed. My bf tried to reassure me that persons expressed interest even though no one bid. It was hard to stay in good spirit.

Some of the works which were bid on were by well known and not so well known artist, some of who were also at the auction. I enjoyed the experience I must say and didn't feel too bad after awhile. One of my works was bought after the auction

All in all I had a great experience and as this auction was the first of its kind at Mutual Gallery, I was glad to share in the experience and look forward to doing it again.

The auction process I think is great for artist as it gives us a "feel" of what investors are looking for, what we can push and what we should reconsider (if any at all). I would definitely subject myself to this process again."

On a closing note, this auction of contemporary art has come to function in a perhaps unintended or intended way. Persons attending the auction seemed to have come to the auction to see a display of available work and their reserve prices. Being shrewd Jamaican collectors the majority chose not to bid but came after the auction to purchase the work at the reserve price thus securing fixed prices at the low-level. As a new phenomenon within the arts scene I am interested to see what changes this will lead to. Will artists respond in turn and raise their reserve prices, will this become an annual contemporary art market setting values for the rest of the year or will it lead to the flourishing of the currently rare-breed, the contemporary art collector.

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State of the Arts: A Letter from Christopher Gonzalez

An example of Christopher Gonzalez's work from www.harmonyhall.com

When ART:Jamaica sent out its first e-newsletter in November 2007,we received a an email from Christopher Gonzalez, famed Jamaican artist, speaking about many timely issues within Jamaican contemporary art. I then assured Mr. Gonzalez that this blog was founded to promote the under-reperesented, whoever that may be. We do however focus on contemporary art as we want to help develop a culture once again of the same passion and openness that existed in the early days of the Jamaica School of Art in the Seventies. Mr. Gonzalez raises many issues which link to the history and nature of the way art has developed in this country. We welcome dialogue and invite you to engage in a discussion. His letter follows below.These views do not necessarily reflect the views of ART:Jamaica


Hello,
What is contemporary Jamaican Art ? Is it a take off from the American Art contemporary , where any freaky cocaine Art is accepted ? How in the world can we be influenced by this " Bastard culture ", " This Commercial Harlot" Can someone tell me this ?
In what way can " timeshow design" assist the development of Art in Jamaica ? Will they lobby with the Government to establish a Policy to protect the Arts and the Artists, since they do not listen to us for years now? There is now an upsurge in the interest of the Arts and I wonder if it is really genuine and sincere, or they have awaken to the potencialy mega-earning power and want to rob and exploit the Artists again as they have done over the years.

The Great King Pin of NCB instead of supporting the Jamaican Artists , he supported the" Large" Kingston Art collector.......... making that collector more wealthy . I am one of the Artists he has exploited . Twenty years ago I wrote a letter expressing my disgust in his attitude to artists. He has not bought a piece of thumbnail sketch from me since.

The Artists are the ones needing support, not the wealthy Patrons ! His brother keeps sponsoring Artists under 40 years old . This has always been the way here in Jamaica, delete the older Artists and promote the young ! This is dreadfuly wrong ! I remember as a young Artist , they droped Alvin Marriot and gave me a public commission because they could exploit me in terms of price. The first real public commission I got was the portrait of William Gordon, they paid me $100.00 Jamaican. They could not pay Marriot that figure !

I saw the show , "Young Generation" I got a bit confused , since I felt I was somewhere in New York or California. The Art reflect absolutely no Caribbean flavour or feelings ! Someone in the Gallery, on the afternoon I visited , said , " Art is Universal" Yes ! I agree , but it should carry Identity ! Please do not misunderstand, I am all for experimentation and exploration in contemporary imagery. More than twenty years ago , I taught a class in Three dimensional
design at The Edna Manley college( at that time, The Jamaica school of arts ) it was all about experimentation , but not to the cost of identity ! Maybe, this is the way of the 21st century , delete all aspects of Nationality and Identity and become a non entity in the so called "Global Village".........................

We really need to look into this trend of ignoring the older Artists for the young, remember , the older Artists paved the way for these younger ones and they have suffered much exploitation and disrespect in the past and still experiencing . Why the "King" don't sponsor at the end of the year, a show for Artists over 50 years old and put up 1.5ml. as first prize ? Are we like old books that you put in the store room and take them out when you want to give them a token award ? The same thing will happen when these present young Artists reach over 40 or 50. This is wrong , wrong , wrong !

Another negative this does is to create division betwwen the young and older Artists , giving the younger ones the illusion that they are more progressive and the older ones nonprogressive, stagnant, not contemporary........The young Artists have never invited me to their show( one or two may do it) The Mutual life Gallery clearly told me , the Gallery do not invite Artists, it is left entirely up to the exhibiting Artist or Artists. Is this healthy ?
Best regards !


Sincerely ,
Christopher Gonzalez

Do you agree or disagree with this letter?; What has your experience been as an artist, collector or agent/dealer/curator/art lover etc.? What steps can we take to ensure inclusion for artists and their rights. Is it a collector-driven system and if so, how has it shaped the arts in Jamaica and what are its advantages and disadvantages.

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UPGRADED SUMMER EXHIBITIONS

Having seen two of the major juried shows this summer, the JCDC Fine Arts Festival and the Under 40, it is obvious that a handful of curators and arts administrators are really trying to reposition Jamaican art internationally by improving exhibition standards prevent the formation of a status quo and give it a swift jumpstart. The guest speaker at the opening of The SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year Exhibition, Taynia Nethersole spoke of defending the reputation of Jamaican contemporary art. She mentioned the declaration of one collector in stating that art in Jamaica was stagnating. Imagine that. A breakaway from convention and focus on experimentation and cultural exploration as seen in the works of young artists such as Cleve Bowen, Kereina Changfatt, Paula Daley and Oya Tyehimba, being declared stagnant. Being a young artist myself that statement is a bit of a slap in the face signalling the loss of the faith in young artists that collectors of previous generations had. This is reconfirmed by one of Jamaica’s most prolific collectors, Wallace Campbell, in a recent interview stating that he rarely collected work from young artists however promising. Is this possibly why so few contemporary artists are barely able to earn a minimum from their work or curated contemporary art shows such as the Curator’s Eye receives a scanty amount of visitors or contemporary artists have to prove commercial viability before being able to book a show at top commercial galleries. Quite possibly, and it is a fact the art community has to live with and I suppose somehow we all get on with it. This resilience carries forth in the work that is out there in the galleries such as The Mutual Gallery and the The CAGE Gallery; the continued encouragement and growing quality of art coming from youth artists, self-taughts and art students by the Jamaica Development of Culture Commission.

I must say however that great encouragement comes from the publication of a very well designed and edited volume of The Jamaican entitled classically, ‘The Art Issue’. If my memory is right, it is the only publication to cover so wide a span of Jamaican art in a few years. It may be a bit pricy for the average student or struggling artist but is well worth it at a price of $850. It could just as well be entitled ‘The Intuitive Art Issue’ or ‘The National Gallery Companion’ as it does give the most space to a timeline similar to the curatorial schema of the National Gallery’s permanent collection and the idea of the Intuitive artist. The general avoidance of new directions in our contemporary art, concerns me a bit. I would have loved to have seen a bit more about artists working with printmaking, assemblage, video, photography. fibre arts, performance, drawing etc. Later in the volume however,features on Christopher Clare, who peeked our interest in The National Gallery’s, Curator’s Eye II and Laura Facey’s under-publicized Institute of Jamaica show were included.

Before closing, I am mentioning an item on my Christmas list for the Jamaican art scene: the renaming of the SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year Exhibition/Competiton. Since it is modelled on the Turner Prize, which has since evolved into a brand partially because of its name which is now comparable to the Oscars and Tony’s, why not employ some of its publicity generating strategies. A brand-worthy name is priceless as evidenced by The Art Issue.

Note: For artists who are not yet aware the National Biennial’s Juried section has been merged with the JCDC Fine Arts Festival so next summer presents an opportunity to enter work once more when the JCDC sends a call to artists.
Also remember to see the Under 40 show at the Mutual Gallery and vote for your favourite body of work. Their artists talk is Tuesday August 28th, 2007 at 6pm.

Because I am sure I have stepped on toes feel free to voice your opinion by posting your comments.

Link to a related article in The Sunday Gleaner:
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070826/arts/arts1.html

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