Rooted outside tradition
Published:Sunday | September 1, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Amitabh Sharma, Contributor
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world," said Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter, apostle of peace. In his words, the change, begins from within, ten young artists are taking the step, to break stereotype, experiment and query.
Displayed at the The National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) at New Roots: 10 Emerging Artists exhibition, the artists are out to make a bold statement, jumping out the box and breaking the proverbial glass ceiling.
NCJ, in a bid to support and attract
new and emerging talent has organised this exhibition. "The gallery is
excited to unveil a show that will surprise, challenge and hearten the
arts community and broader society," said Veerle Poupeye, executive
director of NGJ.
The exhibition features work by
Deborah Anzinger, Varun Baker, Camille Chedda, Gisele Gardner, The Girl
and the Magpie, Matthew McCarthy, Olivia McGilchrist, Astro Saulter,
Nile Saulter and Ikem Smith.
A walk through the
exhibition transits from awe to grotesque to the subtle - encased in
conventional and new media - painting in various media and on various
surfaces, digital photography, video and animation, jewellery and a
variety of genres and styles.
Defying tradition are
pieces by artists that invite the visitors to put their inferences, to
stick abstract pieces of paper or express their emotions on the gallery
wall, 'graffiti' style.
No Deliberate Themes
"There are no deliberate themes in the exhibition,
but the title, 'New Roots' was chosen, with some ironic intent, to
signal how the works reflect the current cultural moment," Nicole
Smythe-Johnson, senior curator at NGJ informed.
The
artists, Symthe-Johnson informed, all are relatively new to the local
art world, and are under the age of 40 years. "The exhibition is
designed to identify and encourage new directions in the Jamaican art
world," she said.
The directions are diverse, from
life's journey of multiple amputee Joshua Brown, captured in photographs
by self-taught photographer Varun Baker, a wee bit grotesque peek into
dentures, jutting like stalagmite and stalactite by Gisele Gardner, to
acrylic portraits on sandwich bags by Camille Chedda or Matthew McCarthy
mocking the 'socialite' culture - transforming the gallery walls with
larger-than-life graffiti.
"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," elaborated Smythe-Johnson.
The 10
artists represent a generation that is working silently towards
realising their goals and building a path of their life, their acumen
could be aptly summarised by Apple's founder Steve Jobs: "Here's to the
crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs
in the square holes ... because the ones who are crazy enough to think
that they can change the world, are the ones who
do."
Photos by Amitabh Sharma