MISS JAMAICA: Khepera Oluyia Hatsheptwa

Khepera Oluyia Hatsheptwa, is a Jamaican artist, who has been active in the arts for several years since graduating from Edna Manley College a few years ago. She has exhibited in high profile shows such as Curator's Eye 2 and Under 40 Artist of the Year. She also has co-ordinated the Multicare Foundations, Summer on the Waterfront summer school for several years. She teaches art in the secondary school sytstem and recently gained a place by nomination...

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Tricia Gordon-Johnston: Balancing commercial and fine art practice

Tricia Gordon-Johnston is a practicing fine artist and recent graduate of Edna Manley College. She has exhibited in integral shows such as Curator's Eye II at The National Gallery in 2006 and SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year 2006 at The Mutual Gallery. She currently does digital and photographic commercial design work alongside her artistic practice- not unlike many Jamaican artists. Her studio work however has been rooted in the conceptual...

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Mastering Ritual/ Ceremony/ Performance

This post has been long overdue. I apologize, but I felt I had to take time to think about some of the things that were happening in art locally. For the first time in a long time you could hear people talking about an art event. The event was the opening of the new space at Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) as marked by the show Mastering Slavery. The show occurs in parts with one segment at The National Gallery and another at The Museums Division at...

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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...

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Confronting Persona’s and Bodies

A walk through the Edna Manley College’s 2007 final year show, particularly the fine arts department, and the body emerges as a general concern. Figures and bodies have always been a part of the imagery produced by exhibiting students but this year’s show seems significant in a sense that in its focus on how we image ourselves and others it seems the dissatisfied descendant of established Jamaican art. The number of confrontational bodies and personas...

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Time-based Media?

What is Time-based Media? Why is 'time' an issue of importance in digital media and the contemporary artist? Why is it relevant to the arts and artists in Jamaica? What qualifies a medium to be placed in this category and is it specific to medium or is it more of an approach or aesthetic? How does it function in the fine arts as opposed to the commercial industry?What applications has it been previously used for and what potential does it have for our cultural industry? What about the creative process differs from using non-time-based media and...

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New Media in Jamaican Art

What is new media, and how do you feel it can be used by Jamaican artists? What cultural interventions can occur through its use? Is it only for an elite set of privelaged techno-freaks? Does it deviate or dilute Fine Art or can it be used to assist the artistic process? Does it feel like a European or American import that is trendy at the moment or could there be more potential than we give it credit for? Should the artist using new media look to other mediums such as Painitng and Film to create value and determine aesthetics or does it require...

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WE ARE ABOUT FILM

A week or so ago, I was in attendance at the CPTC free Film Festival to see ‘The Future of Food’. The documentary was in keeping with the activist sentiment of many of the other films. It could be gathered that the audience was deeply affected by the intermittent muffled cries of surprise and shock at the thought of food being used as a political tool in America’s pursuit for world dominance. Conspiracy theories abound and left many of us vowing...

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A Report: Rape, Rudeness and Renee Cox

The first research symposium at the Edna Manley College was held last week, with the highlight being the appearance and participation of controversial New York artist Renee Cox. Cox gave an artists talk to keen students and staff amongst book shelves and tables in the library. She was very animated in her delivery garnering frequent laughter from the audience. The level of intimacy achieved with the audience was such that students lacked no reserve...

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NEW DISCUSSIONS:“CENSORSHIP AND THE ARTS IN THE CARIBBEAN”

The question of freedom of expression in the arts is currently receiving a lot of attention in many parts of the world. While many artists are pushing the limits of the acceptable, with deliberately provocative works, the public exhibition and support of their work has resulted in many controversies, fueled by new, or renewed, political and religious sensibilities and the enhanced exposure provided by the media. This debate has special significance in the postcolonial world, where the arts have conventionally been seen as crucial to the development...

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Could 'Negroamor' happen in Jamaica?

Brasil has an exhibition/ community initiative where simple but large images of the city's under-represented persons of African descent are projected or printed unto the architecture. It is to promote negroamor or black/self-love. The response to it as you can imagine is two-sided. Some privileged persons termed 'white' have objected to being bombarded by the images while it has reportedly promoted self-awareness among blacks in Bahia, Brasil. There...

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National Biennial 06 Artists' Talk

The National Gallery's artists' talks are always inciteful and informative and sometimes controversial. These events allow the public a further understanding of the works they loved, hated or were indifferent to. These talks are rarely recorded and so are often the only opportunity we have to interact with artists in these major exhibitions. The gallery is also one of the few institutions in Jamaica to consistently host these forums. The talk takes...

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Perverseness, Painting and Dante's Inferno:Interview with Marvin Bartley

This was a very bold thing for yourself and Camille Chedda to enter the National Biennial while still students. What were reactions to to this? Well the reactions were varied but the underlying issues that aroused from the reactions of friends was that we should go for it, we all had our doubts and inhibitions as to whether or not we would get in. However it was generally all good.You started off painting images on canvas but now you use digital...

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Biennial 07: Invitation to Discuss

This biennial is a particularly important exhibition for various reasons. It stands out as being one of the first years where on can think of a set of artists being shown who utilise digital media and processes. Renee Cox, controversial New York-based artist is exhibiting several photographs and students from Edna Manley College are exhibiting alongside seasoned practitioners. There are many more questions that could be asked and discussed in response...

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Black scandal bag: Camille Chedda speaks about her work

Where does working with the black scandal bag come from?It started in my third year where I was using images of my face to create works about how we (or just myself) mask our identities as Jamaicans. It was also about being unable to speak and being trapped. I decided to use the black scandal bag because it garnered many interpretations based on its everyday uses. It contains, and I was containing my words. It covers, and I was hiding my ugliness,...

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The legacy of tourism:

The 'Dangerously Close to Tourist Art' Lecture given on the 2nd of this month touched on a few points that have been up for discussion for quite a while now. What kind of art can bear the 'intuitive' label? What separates the gallery intuitive from the craft market intuitive? What role does the tourism industry play in the formation of the arts in Jamaica? Another issue raised was that of how much do we have to give in order to gain from tourism?This is the moment to ask these questions about the relationship between tourism and art as with the...

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Travelling Exhibitions and National Art:

At present there seems to be a shortage of travelling exhibitions in Jamaica. For reasons perhaps such as budget restrictions and shortage of the kind of space required before being allowed to host one of these exhibitions. This does something however: it keeps the gallery circuit and the art community closed. The National Gallery with its Biennial and Curator's Eye seeks to invite international curator's and artists to exhibit alongside local artists...

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