I recently had the chance to view the new works on display at the Central Bank of the Bahamas gallery by John Cox and Heino Schimd. The security (and policeman) would not allow me to take any pics so sorry you will have to go see for yourself. Heino's work offers shadowy human forms that are upright but appear suspended in a state of visual tension by the style of the painting or drawing. The figures invite reflection and show a fine grasp of the mechanics of human anatomy. The figures are extremely minimal but seem to give off an emotional quality or depth by their positioning and posture. They seem sad or trapped, I couldn't decide for sure. I might be way of the mark here because they also have a sense of motion that captures the frenzy of modern life. each of Heino's series are striking and startling in their simplicity.
John Cox's new work appears to be a movement within his I against I series, incorporating both the single worded themes (this time rendered in a more integrated and personal way into each piece) and the use of boxing figures. The works explode the series into new color palates while also incorporating new elements of pattern and symbolism. Most of the works seem closer to John's roots and incorporate a broader range of his styles than anything I've previously seen. There seem to be hints both to his artistic influences like Rauschenberg as well as an engagement with cultural mores (see Jesus as an example) It seems that although these large canvases (each with it's own a small red square asymmetrically attached to the side) The canvases convey a sense of dreamlike vision. Perhaps we are staring into visual maps of the mental states of Heino's suspended figures, we are peering into the suspended unconscious that hides behind the physical. Together Heino capturing the shadowy outside of the physical world that we see and John presenting us with the interior meaning maps that prop up this shadowy world is a very heady and full visual presentation of the : Physical.
I am speechless at this man's depth of creative vision and his amazing levels of technical and spiritual detail. It seems as if his eyes or his 'way of reading reality' are what sets Grey's work apart from lots of other 'trippy' painters., His work evokes a harmony and balance among all things that also integrates huge tensions and paradoxes. This little video is his talking about my favorite of his pieces, The Cosmic Christ.
I am so proud of my wife Mrs Seeward! She had her first photography exhibition this week and it was a huge success! Well attended and quite a few images sold on the opening night (which is always a good sign!) Check out the video to see the evening and a closer look at the images she had in this, the first of many, exhibitions for her, I am sure!
Last night was the opening of the SUGAR show at John Cox's Popopstudios. Seeward was extra excited for this show, have been invited to participate. My piece (meditation hemet) was called SugarMind - which will soon get its own post!) The show was great to attend with many works stimulating interesting thoughts. The Obama/McCain diorama shows how the USAmerica election has gone global. Better to just watch the video and see for yourself the diversity of work on display, all inspired by the idea or SUGAR. I found it interesting that none of the arts made reference to Sugar's slavery entwined history, which sys something about our culture moving forward. Moving the culture forward, seems to be the mission statement of Popop so I would call the evening a success!
Women are Heroes is an international art project that uses the urban landscape as a canvas for social action and contemplation. Their website describes the project this way:
The Women project wants to underline their pivotal role and to highlight their dignity by shooting them in their daily lives and posting them on the walls of their country.
On the other hand, by posting the same images of these women in Western countries, the project allows everyone to feel concerned by their condition and connects, through art, the two different worlds.
I love the surreal effect that the large scale human features has on the landscape. I would love for this sort of idea to spring up in Nassau. The human images transforms the buildings into a larger whole, as if you are seeing the spirit of the neighborhood.
Roght now they have projects in Brazil, Kenya, South-Sudan, Sierra-Leone, and Liberia but they are looking to spread the idea further with help from like-minded individuals abroad. They even have them on the sides of monorail cars that stare down on the city in wide-eyed wonder at night. Great idea and execution and raisin awareness for such a worthy cause: women!
AJ has done it again with another collection of diverse and engaging art oblects. Everything from painted cardboard pizza boxes to high end custom kiteboard graphics shows evidence of his strength in choosing images and color combinations. In the above video you can hear AJ give commentary on a few of the works including my favorite piece with Barack Obama locked into a gun site. You can read my comments about the piece here". The whole event seemed to be charged with an electric quality and most of that came from frantic energy of the works (and the rest came from the fact that the event was sponsored by Red Bull) AJ also injected a bit of humor with a piece called Million Dollar Baby with the highest price tag I have seen on a work by a local artist. One of the most impressive works was a hand drawing that had a very subtle beauty that isn't emphasized in the full frontal pop of the stencil forms. After his show in Oct at the Ladder Gallery, AJ has said he was going to take a year off from exhibiting. There is no telling where all that free time will lead his creative mind. His first 2010 exhibition might take place underwater!
For the next few weeks the photography of Wellington Chea will be on display at the Ladder Gallery at NPCC. This, his second collected exhibition, aims includes photographs from as diverse geographic locations as Hong Kong, Havana and the Blue Hole of Long Island. Many people commented on the timely nature of the Blue Hole shot since it was the location of a tragedy just a few weeks ago. In the shot you can see people playfully sunbathing near the murky hole that drops to incredible depths. Seeing the photo and reflecting on the fact that three people drowned at this spot, most likely on a sunny day not unlike the one in the picture, we are reminded about the fragility of life. Other stand out shots included a very ornate interior of a temple in Hong Kong as well as a Cuban Lady full of life and song. Check out the images for your self if you are in the area!
I received an email this morning that I was going to delete because I didn't recognize the sender, when I saw this familiar face peering out of the boy of the email. It was Andre Chappelle once again finding his way into the Nassau Art Scene. (Follow the link in his name to get a bit of background on Andre) It seems that Sharad Lightbourne is a photographer who is back in the Bahamas after attending the Savannah College of Art and Design. The website for his show is pretty stylish : Kenisis. The site and the show even have an original musical score produced by Zoltan Johnson. The show is set for Sept 18-19 and if it matches up to the excitement that I feel about the photos of Andre an the website, it should be a fantastic experience. I am intrigued about his choice of Andre as a subject. Here is what the site says about Andre:
"Andre Chapelle is one of the most prominent faces in Nassau. His life of experiences, judgments and consequences made him the perfect poster model for the show."
Also an update on Andre: A few months ago his sister came back to Nassau on a mission to get him off the streets and into a treatment facility in the US. Apparently Andre accepted their help and they are making passport and police record arrangements in order for him to fly to Florida. maybe the photos from this Kinesis show were taken around the time of his sister's visit because I have not seen him that clean in many years.
This image pretty much sums up, for me, the knife edge mixture of hope and chaos that is being radiated from the US presidential marathon election. Obama is riding a very real wave of dissatisfaction and a hunger for change but it is constantly mirrored by the other side. The side that is unwilling to have things any other way than they think is best. Those types have already proven themselves more dangerous than we are often willing to admit. And so the razor continues to cut its way towards election day. Hillary mentioning RFK was less a personal revelation than an indicator of how desperate the times are. This image is one of the strongest I have seen in a good while really capturing the way the moment feels to an outside observer.
My friend AJ continues to push deeper into the Bahamian art scene with a one night only, one man show called Hit and Run. The show featured a combination of mediums from stencil on canvas to skateboard and kiteboard designs. The theme for the evening was punk and the word really summed up both the presentation and the feel of the show. Aj's strength in portraits really infused a human quality to the rugged and often color heavy paintings. By taking and manipulating some of his fantastic original photos, AJ recasts the faces in a way that invites a deeper reflection. This show also saw AJ branching out and spraying onto a variety of surfaces: masonite, cardboard and plastic.
The show was well attended and really generated a lot of conversation around both the images and the combination of canvases and objects displayed. Good on ya Arjuna!
This is seeward's new line of Bahamian inspired T-shirt design. Someone should get on this and make a little cash out of the idea! I think the idea of Moneygami is inspired! It reminds us that money is best used to make something beautiful. If money becomes an end in itself then it looses its beauty. If it is intentionally crafted to cause something of higher value to occur then it can becomes a tool rather than a means to security. Here is a simple guide to make your own wardrobe!
Last night was the official opening of the Popopstudios Centre for the Visual Arts. The evening featured a retrospective of Bahamian artist Max Taylor. (you can scroll down for an interview that John Cox did with him for the show). The work was all across the board from pencil and ink drawing to dark umber portraits and large, bright African inspired paintings. A series of what looked to be watercolors really spoke to me. The forms were so delicate and the faces were stylized in a fashion that I can only describe as 70's cartoon. The pieces I liked were from the early 80's and had a much more sophisticated look than the more rough and incomplete feel of the larger canvases. Max is quite a talented wood carver and apparently a potter as well since there were a half dozen bowls with colorful fish painted on them on display as well. In the interview Max talked about the Social Voice of art but this show lacked that edge of commentary and drifted quickly into purely aesthetic realms. Although I spied a group of what looked like hooded clansmen in one of the pen and ink drawing, I wasn't really able to tell if they were actually clansmen or just clergy. Maybe that was the point but that kind of social commentary could have only made sense in Max's new home in USAmerica. Kudos to John and the POPOP crew for making the ground and gallery look splendid, I am looking forward to the coming shows in this new space.
This week is the biggest week for art in the Bahamas! With the Transforming Spaces exhibition taking place this weekend and involving 12 gallery/exhibition locations and just about every artist in the country, it is a busy week for art lovers. Last night we attended the first exhibition in a cool new space called The Hub. It was a group show featuring 6 established artists: Jonathan Murray, Holly and Lynn Parotti, Margo Bethel, Jackson Pettit and AJ Watson. The above image is from Jackson's film Black Liquid which featured a male model (artist Jonathan Murray) being soaked in black paint. It was quite a powerful film for only lasting 1 minute and evoked many strong reactions (not all positive which is a sign of effective art as far as I am concerned). AJ Watson, under the DECYPUL moniker, presented two custom skateboards:
AJ has continued to make his mark on the cultural scene and is one of the few artists who is displaying this weekend at a number of featured galleries. He even gifted me with one of the custom downhill boards!
The feel of the event and the rough trade look of the place really captured my attention. I am looking forward to great things from The Hub in the future, not just as a gallery space but a point of connection for creative and like minded people to gather and explore new possibilities for life and spirit. More reports from the other galleries will be forthcoming as the week moves on!
I was fortunate enough to film John Cox interviewing Max Taylor yesterday at the Popop Center for the Visual Arts. Check out the video above as he discussed color theory and the role of social and political activism within artwork.
Yes these are sculptures made from old guns. In an interesting project in Cambodia, UK artistSasha Constable worked alongside 22 emerging artist to create these (and many more at the from her name) works made from guns:
"The 23 young Cambodian artists who worked with PAPC were all fine art students from The Royal University of Fine Art in Phnom Penh (RUFA). They ranged from 20-28 years old and were from the Painting, Sculpture and Interior Decoration departments. "
Not only are the sculptures well executed but the ideas that it generates are just as impressive.
The latest exhibition at the newly expanded popopstudios featured new works by the trio of John Cox, Heino Schmidt and Blue Curry. As always the work offered many interesting directions to guide the wandering mind through the collision of mixed media and traditional techniques like painting and pencil drawing. All three artists featured new work that all seemed to be addressing or responding to different ideas with equal levels of wit and invention.
Heino Schmidt's Six of One, half a Dozen of the Other was a very satisfying combination of shaky dashboard video driving through Nassau's streets and some well executed line drawings of a rugged looking man in 360 degrees. Heino articulated just enough to give the drawing character but still allowing you to fill in the details. Check out the video to see what I mean. This has got to be the most moving piece of Heino's that I have experienced. i will have to go back and watch the whole video loop.
Blue Curry's video installation traces the history of a statue that was unveiled in 1900 in Nassau to great celebrations. Within a few years the holiday honoring the man in the statue was taken off the books and a few years later the statue landed in the back of the Bahamas National Library storage. Blue heard about the statue's sorry state from a Tourist's comment post on an internet forum. Being from the Bahamas while living in London, Blue tracked down the statue in the storage closet and gave it a makeover complete with fetching blue eye shadow and a sturdy duct-tape necklace. It is as if new technologies are helping to reboot our discarded histories by re-infusing it's artifacts with meaning - or irony, I am not sure which direction Blue might have been leaning. Reading the timeline that he had printed
John Cox continues in his intriguing exploration within the I Against I series. Four of the six canvases this time do not feature words and simply offer shadowy sea greens and low res blue images which convey a much less confrontational stance than previous works in this series. The absence of textual symbolisms to guide (or distract) the viewer gives the pieces a soothing calm. The final two pieces are a study in opposites. I Against I's cold blues and shocking night-safety writing is a cluster of clashing energies while Champion is a soft mesh of tranquility. This piece speaks to me of resolution. As if the first piece when you enter is the first punch that starts the fight. we get a few rounds of give and take and then suddenly the knock out punch. With the figure of Cox now buried beneath an cloudy mix of zen floral shapes the overall image is beautifully abstract and decidedly more feminine in tone than anything I have seen in Cox's previous work.
I am currently working on a new website project featuring three streams in John's current work. I will surely post the link when it is soon finished. I really enjoyed this exhibition and look forward to going back to see the work again.
I made a short film for my buddy Aj's art exhibition this week. It has some interesting quotes on his work and his thoughts on a diverse cross section of ideas. Check it Yo!
I have been very busy as of late and have fallen behind in posting. Here is a link to a new site that I am developing that will be a series of short video podcasts featuring Bahamian artists working in all medium. Click here to visit the site!
The newest show at the Ladder Gallery is an exhibition of photos by Sabrina Lightbourne. The phots feature a mainstay of the Bahamian cultural scene: the pot cake. The Pot Cake is the name for stay dogs in the Bahamas. They get their name from the burned bits of rice that remain caked on the bottom of pots when making Peas and Rice. The burned parts, called "Pot Cake", have the most flavor and add zest to the already spicy concoction. Sabrina has spent the last few months capturing the canine characters in a variety of settings. The mood of the images spans a wide range from sad to playful and almost every emotional note inbetween. You can see dogs sleeping alongside busy headlight lit roadways sleeping safely just out outside of the deadly fate that many stray dogs meet on our streets. You can see bright smiles:
and tired stretches:
For a bit of novelty (that could have been a larger part of the show) she doctored up one image to resemble a pop-art type presentation.
Overall I really enjoyed Sabrina's choice of subject matter and her keen eye for mood and setting. Each image tells a story and also reminds us of the beauty of life that often goes unnoticed or even despised among us each day.
The show also presented the works of another photographer named Christine Graham whose work didn't have as much emotional content or clear point of view. One piece stood out above the others:
I look forward to seeing much more work from Sabrina in the future. She has made me consider what life is like for 'man's best friend'
The latest collection of work on display at the Ladder Gallery is a series of tropical photographs, mostly underwater, by Derek Roderick. The collection is an explosion of wonder and color that moves between the complex organic structures of sea coral to the imposing creature captured above.
These large format prints really transport you into the undersea realm full of tranquil life and hidden beauty. Derek has logged many hours underwater as a dive instructor here in Nassau but his eye for composition sets his work apart from most of the underwater shots I have seen. Some of his close-ups are thrilling
The show will be up until Sept 30th so come and check it out!
Bahamas in the House! In what I believe to be their first international collective exhibit, the artists from POPOPSTUDIOS presented a fine collection of works that surely stimulated much discussion and reflection from the large crowd in attendance. During her introduction, the curater of the gallery pointed out that the work was edgy, interesting and worthy of investment. While most of the work was clearly not designed to be sold but to simply be experienced or considered. For instance, Blue Curry was displaying a humorous conceptual piece that recorded the process of removing a large section of beach in the Bahamas and replacing it with the following sign
You are invited to watch the process of collecting the sand looped on four video screens or behold the majesty of the individual collection bags laid out across the gallery floor. I have always felt that this piece worked as a not-so-subtle critique of the Bahamas as both an escapist vacation paradise and a stopping off point in the international drug trade. I like it when art is able to offer a bit of ambiguity so that the process of interpretation is stimulating an several levels, even if some of those intepretations were not intended in the original inspiration of the piece. Speaking of inspiration, I have no idea, for certian, what Hieno is asking us to consider by offering the interplay between a projected loop of a fly-swarmed dead dog and a series of equally creepy paintings of the same canine corpse. Is it a reflection on death or how, like a dead dog rooting right in front of us on the pavement, we must learn to live in the face of death? Either way it was a bold way of breaking through the sometimes unrewarding process of experiencing a work of art. Like they say, you either loved it or hated it but it forced you to choose a side. I like art that doesn't allow you to sit on the fence. For the record, the paintings were well executed and less unsettling than the video.
Toby Lunn had a few interesting visual images blending both color and movement into emotionally engaging pieces that were a nice foil for the harshness of the dead dog video projected near-by. Jason Bennet displayed a large piece that seemed to float it was so smooth. I could just stand staring at his canvases for hours. They don't as much suggest visual forms as they conjure up emotional or interior landscapes. Places on the piece will be almost lined up geometrically and then out of nowhere a patch of cracked and weather comes raging out of nowhere just like the way some days feel unpredictable and almost lining up with some form of order. Seeing the series of paintings offered by John Cox was much different seeing them lined up along large wallspace. they seemed even more confrontational and intense. The series emerged as a grouping rather than just each individual image. Also from a greater distance they had a punchier visual feel blending elements of superflat graphic design with well placed objects adding organic textures to the self portraits.
It was exciting to see the work being so well recieved. The Miami Herald was there and seeward even gave an interview to someone claiming to be from the Nassau Gaurdian (I hope I didn't say anything stupid!)
He has a very famous name, Mohammed Ali, and a visual sense right off the streets of NYC. The Aerosol Arabic is the graffiti name of a British Muslim artist that blend Islamic script with a very urban asthetic.
At the beginning of the rise in graffiti as a legitimate artform it seemed to be a much about an ideology as it was about a visual style. Artists who chose to present their work on the sides of someone else's property were reclaiming public space and to a certian subtle degree making a statement about the notion of private ownership. The Aerosol Arabic is not embracing the anarcistic values of your typical street artist but he is instead, through his use of sacred words stenciled in Arabic script, fusing the street level artform with a sense of the mysterious power of words to influence us.
If you recognize that the words confronting us from all sides plastered on countless billboards and poster ads actually effect us in not-so-small ways, then it makes sense that we could also be effected by these visual prayers. In this piece
he is praying for the Earth. Thats a prayer I could get behind!
If you are familiar with the KidRobot universe then you would recognize the above image as a glow-in-the-dark do-it-your-self wonder called a Munny. I was gifted this lovely little blank canvas and created Miles. I used a bit of marker, some old cassette tape labels and a sheet of nifty self-sticking velvet paper. Some people really get into designing these things, you can see more here. I would love to have an army of these little guys!
At New Providence Community Centre we have an art gallery called The Ladder Gallery. Gillian Watson has been doing a fantastic job curating the gallery and filling the walls with interesting and diverse works by a wide range of Bahamian artists from firmly established people like Antonius Roberts to a collection of emerging artists. The latest show is titled Naquatic and is a collection of works by : Abby Smith, Lemero Wright, Dandreia Bethel and Edrin Symonette. The works span a diverse spectrum of styles with a focus towards nature as a unifying element. Lemero Wright's pieces seemed to display two very different approaches, with some work being more direct and representational and others falling into the Abstract Cubism mold that I have seen in his previous work.
Sprung by Lemero Wright Autumn Beauty by Dandreia Bethel
Dandriea Bethel had some nicely textured works but they seemed oddly focused on the season autumn for a show that opened in the middle of a Bahamian summer.
During the last show I was impressed with Edrin Symonette and his graffiti syled paintings. He may have been spending time with Elkino Dames because his newest works have a similar obsessive quaility that Elkino's 'brick-styled' backgrounds convey. His Lutra Pine I and II didn't speak to me as strongly as his previous multi-layered and colorful works.
Lutra Pine I by Edrin Symonette
I was very impressed with the work of a new artist Abby Smith who was having her first showing. She showed both a diversity in subject matter and a versitility in technique that grabbed my attention.
Jump by Abby Smith
A few in her series had a cutesy element that reminded me a bit of Anne Getty's photos of babys in abnormal situations.
As I Lay by Abby Smith
I am willing to forego my distaste for bright florescent colors becuase this piece just seemed very well executed. By far, my favorite piece in the whole exhibition was this one by Abby:
Slumber by Abby Smith
Overall I was impressed with the varied techniques on display but I was having trouble sorted out the choices of subject matter and how they related to each other in some thematic way. Maybe they were not meant to and that it fine as well but I am always looking deeper into the work of artists that I encounter to see a bit of their personal perspective peeking through. I am not saying that I want to have a message in each piece but I am interested in gaining something on both a visual and asthetic level as well as an intellectual one. Maybe I am spoiled by the way the artists in the POPOPSTUDIOS collective blend both visually engaging images with subtle and sometimes profound ideas. That being said, the artists showing in the naquatic show have all made some visually beautiful images and I celebrate that whole-heartedly!
I was able to catch a glipmse of some new works by John Cox before they are shipped off to the POPOPSTUDIOS first US show in Miami next month. I will be in Miami for the opening so I will post more footage of the other artists from popop in the show. I think John's pieces are quite stunning! The subject matter deals with surfacing the inner tensions that circle around certian large themes that society presents the individual, in this case John. The themes center around male gender expectations like Hero, Savior, and my personal favorite DragonSlayer. I really dig the stencil-like way he paints onto the canvas with brushes. The pieces are very gritty and muti-layed but somehow manage to convey a sense of peace and calm. Maybe it is the use of white as an anchor or background color throughout the series gives them a sense of groundness. You can't tell very much in the video but they are also very large and imposing in size, forcing you to recieve them in the confrontational way that they seem to have been intended. I will have to explore with John what some of these words mean to him or to his take on the context for their interpretation.
Antonius Roberts has been making some interesting and diverse art lately. He is firmly established as a painter, wood sculpter, and chainsaw vituoso! His latest project is focused on bringing a personal dimension to the public discussion about HIV/AIDS in the Bahamas. He painted flat outlined forms of 6 people living with HIV. The images shine with personality and the essence of the people's character seems to break through the caribbean chaos backgrounds. He invited each of the subjects to make a mark on the canvases. The above video captured the event for a DVD that will accompany the paintings once sold. It was great to support Antonius and to meet the people in the images, so full of life and energy! I also contributed a statement for the program:
HIV is a very emotional subject. A subject that is often surrounded on all sides by ignorance and depersonalizing fear. Its a subject that can quickly become too complex for words. Complex because it effects not just our minds but also the depths of our hearts. Because of this complexity and emotional core, HIV and its effects, is a subject better addressed from the workshop of a passionate artist rather than from a podium on Parliament's stage. By assembling a group of HIV survivors and reflecting their images in minimalist outlines, these paintings help show us that we are all the same in so many ways. What can be seen poking out through the muted tones is the strength of character and personality that might sometimes be overlooked in these most precious people. We see signs of celebration, dancing, signs of courage and ultimately a sense of hope emerges directly through the bold red marks made by the survivors but also a larger hope that new creative ways of addressing vital subjects like HIV awareness are beginning to emerge from our nation.
In these works, Antonius has reframed the HIV issue in our minds, as well as our hearts. He has reminded us that, together we are all effected by HIV and when we see ourselves as a part of a larger community then we will find more public expressions of strength and hope that the subject of HIV deserves. When it comes to HIV, there is no 'us and them' we are all a part of us.
The Poop Deck, a local restaurant with a very risky name, held an art event and wine tasting. It was a nice setting, right on the water on a breezy spring afternoon, to hear some smooth and funky jazz, played by the G Note All Stars and to check out some new works by local artists. The wine was nothing to write on the internet about but the art was interesting! I bought a print by a local artist with Dreadlocks, that I had never met before. His work had a very playful vibe of celebration about it that sucked me in.
Toby had a very impressive large piece called Biodyn that was both deeply organic looking and science fiction-esque at the same time, almost like an explosion of elements, matter and violent gases into the birth of a new universe. John commented on how his work was not in its best context surrounded by the other mostly landscape paintings. We got a chance to chat briefly about some of his works and I am really loving the way his work is heading.
Other notable artists were Antonius Roberts with a few new paintings that mark a departure from his wooden sculptures in many respects. Malcolm Rae is an older Bahamian artist that has been making some inspired work that seems to blend an impressionists eye towards the Bahamian landscape with a modern animated flat look. The results look a bit like the style of Richard Linklater's Waking Life digital effects. He also uses gold and silver paint pens to add highlights and definition that give them a slightly graffiti touch as well. It was also fun to hang with the girls!
There is a curious story in the gospels, after the death of Jesus.[Luke 24] Two of His disciples are heading away from Jerusalem (just as Jesus had told them not to do) and they are approached on the road by a stranger. This stranger begins a conversation with them by asking about their messiah. The two disciples express their dissappointment and the fact that they no longer believed that Jesus was the true messiah. A while later the two disciples and the stranger go indoors to have a meal. During the meal, in an instant, the truth is apparent and the stranger is revealed to be Jesus. As soon as they realize who it is, Jesus dissappears. This moment of revelation is captured in Rembrandt's classic Christ at Emmaus. This painting could almost serve as a template for all of rembrandt's paintings, in that it has all the ingredients that he worked so hard to include: A sense of heightened drama, an ordinary domestic setting like a meal, dark lighting throwing shadows about and the spark of God's divine presence breaking through the surface. Rembrandt did quite a few studies and two finished versions of this scene. This is the other one:
Rembrandt made his living painting portraits of rich people and educational scenes but his passion flowed into several spiritual ideas that he returned to again and again throughout his rollercoaster of a life. I think this scene sums up the power of Rembrandt's work: the miracle of the divine spirit manifested in human flesh. Not just the flesh of Jesus but all human flesh revealing sparks of the divine. Which one do you like better? the top or the bottom one?
After basically being thrown out of the church for caring so much that it impacted his dignity, Vincent Van Gogh lived, for a short period, with his parents. During this time he painted the grounds of an old church that was eventually sold off to pay the bank. He cast the ld building in very dark tones, as you can tell from the image above. He also did some pencil sketches that show his growing dissillusionment with the Church.
In this one you can see that the small figure of the person is seperated by many layers of shrubs and borders that seem to imply the distance and trouble it is to find your way to the church. These images and more serve to illustrate that Van Gogh, even though he was no longer a Minister, he still felt the need to make commentary on the state of the church in his day. Was it a warning or a critical prophecy? Did he hope that his contemporaries would pay attention and move towards reform or was he simply a bitter old genius?
This weekend I am doing a Creativity and Spirituality workshop at NPCC. We are going to be looking at the lives and works of four artist: Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Howard Finster and Bahamian legend Amos Ferguson. It still strikes me as deeply telling that this image:
is arguably one of the most recognized piece of western art and it was painted looking out the window of a mental institution. Does that say that our modern world need some serious therapy? Does it blur the line between genius and madness? Is there a chance that God was whispering a silent message, hidden within the strange and wonderous life of Mr Van Gogh? What do you think? Now would be a great time to try out the new comments feature! Simply click the word 'comment' below and speak your mind!
On a chilly Ash Wed morning three years ago, I was in LA taking a "city-break" from the island life. My trip was interrupted by the horrible news that my friend Brent Malone had passed away. I had breakfast with Brent on the day I flew out of Nassau for LA and we exchanged some timely thoughts. I am not normally one to put my cards so firmly on the table but for reasons unknown at the time, we both took the opportunity to tell each other how much we cared. I told Brent that I felt honored to know him and that he had opened up a whole world of creativity and inspiration in my own journey. Brent just laughed and called me his "Rock and Roll Pastor", a name he had used for me in many of the introductions he had made of me in the Nassau art scene. A few months before his passing I had just finished recording a cycle of songs and I gave a copy of the disc to Brent. I had given the disc to quite a few other people but Brent was the only one who really engaged me about the music. He really seemed to treat it as ART. he asked me indepth questions about the musical and lyrical content, making connections to his own journey. I remember one lyric in particular from a song called "Find My Way Home" that really resonated with him. The line was 'All the miles we've traveled down, vanish like white lines". For me it was about travelling great distances and then feeling like you are right back where you started, but for Brent it was a direct reference to the vanishing of other "white lines". In the end Brent characterized my music as "Bob Dylan-esque Gospel" and that is fine with me! The week that he died, Brent gave me a small folder with scans of some of his paintings. These are a few of my favorites:
The Cross
Inner journey
Life Within
Brent was a manicly energized person. He could fill one single sentence with five or six brilliant ideas. During our Christmas service four years ago Brent hung a blank canvas in the front of the auditorium by the stage. During worship he invited people to join him in filling the blank space. Before anyone arrived he had painting the following words on the canvas - "I feel plain and lonely, please come and fill me up with your...." He also did some work with our children's ministry and created this piece:
Brent's idea for the cross was to teach the kids that they are the body of Christ in the world. One of the last conversations I had with Brent, i was pitching him and idea of doing a discussion group for artists that would focus on spirituality. I took great pains to tell Brent that the group would be open to artists of all beliefs (or no beliefs as well!) when I finished my pitch, Brent smiled and said "That's fine but just remember that I work for a Jewish carpenter!"
I haven't had that many friends die so far but the thought of seeing Brent again makes it hard not to believe in an afterlife!
Rest in Peace Father of Bahamian Art, rest in peace!
This little gem was a high point of the oscars telecast. It's a new Amex commercial directed by Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore ,The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic) The ad is very nicely shot and gets a lot out of its short 2min playtime. The rest of the Oscars had a few high points - the wonderful choice to allow film makers to create the montages between awards. I particularly liked the one on Writers. I thought that Ellen was funny and helped the show not feel so stale. I liked the people behind the curtians making shapes - Snakes on a Plane and such.
The official opening of the public art project Welcome happened on Feb 15th at 6pm. The event included short speeches by the three sponsors Clint Kemp (New Providence Community Church), George MarcAntonius (Kerzner Intl) and The Ministry of Tourism Minister, Obie Wilscomb. It was great to see the acceptance and excitement that was poured out on the project and the recognition to the artists whose vision made the project a strong statement overall. It must be said that from the NPCC side of things, this project would no have happened without the constant effort (and sometimes struggle =) of Gillian Watson - You Go Girl!
Check out the video to hear the speeches and to get a sense of what the evening felt like.
I checked out the latest exhibition at John Cox's Popop gallery. Popop Studios is a sort-of home base for a group of Bahamian artists who are looking to push the definitions and appreciations furhter in our culture. I really love what these guys do and many of the Popop artists are among my favorite artists working in our country. You can check out more info and work at PopopStudios.com.
This newest show "Drawing the Line" did not disappoint. I really liked John Cox's new work, especially a large piece with the name of his new-born son "shelter" adorning the center. Michael Edwards also had some very interesting large scale dot matrix looking pieces that invited mor focused stares from those attending the show. Jason Bennet's emotionally dense pieces are always a highlight for me and this time the work seemed more engaging than the last show I attended. Heino Schmidt, who is always three intellectual steps ahead of my expectations, created four pieces (two photographs and two pencil drawings) that were interconnected in subject matter. Blue Curry created a series of little illustrations that really made me laugh. He recreated, in visual and textual forms, the various bits of spam that invades everyone's inbox (viagra, fake rolexs and penis enlargement pills!) You can count on Blue to always be very accesible and deeply conceptual at the same time and that is a huge strength! I was very impressed with the progression in Toby Lunn's work. He has been pushing the boundaries of his style for the last few years and I feel he has finaly hit upon a very natural and vibrant combination of his love for bold colors and his inner zen attitude. You can see more of Toby's work here. We are blessed that in such a relatively small country there is still a core of artists who are willing and able to keep pushing art forward!
I taught my friend Gillian how to use iMovie and she made this little film for the upcoming launch of the Welcome art installation on the grounds at NPCC. The piece is officially being unvieled this week with dignitaries and important folks like the artists Antonius Roberts and Tyrone Ferguson and members of Government. Good job on the video, Gill!
About 17 years ago, shortly after I had my first powerful encounter with God, I had a series of extremely vivid dreams. I have forgotten many of the details of the dreams except the following:
I was waiting in a long line outside of what I thought was a club. There were hundreds of other people waiting in the line and I was pretty far from the front. A man in a monk's type robe, carrying a clipboard, came through the line and ushered me to the front. I was inspected by the attendants and led into the building which resembled, on the outside, an old catherdral. Once inside it looked like a very large corner store, sort of like a 7-11 but with a bit of a starbucks flavor. As I roamed the isles checking out the twinkies and various flavors of beef jerky, I noticed that there was a small stage in the far corner. The stage was set up with instruments for a band but no one was playing. I walked closer to the stage and laid down on the floor. The ceiling of the store/club/church was painted with natural looking clouds and even a little moon peeking out through the bright lights. As I laid there, the most beautiful and soaring music began to play. It was such amazing music that I didn't even look up to see if it was being played live or who was playing it. I was just enjoying it to the fullest. I remember that it was similar to early Pink Floyd with a soulful and lyrical guitar lead at the center. I don't remember many other details except that when the monk let me through the line he checked off something on his clipboard. I caught a quick glance at what was written on his paper. It was a long list of names and, when he opened the door for me to enter, he had placed a check mark
next to the name - seeward
For the next few days I had more dreams where I was referred to as seeward by either myself or other people in my dream. I even remember one where my guitar was speaking to me and, before me and my guitar got into a huge disagreement, my guitar had called me seeward.
I became convinced that these dreams and the name seeward were connected to the experience of God that I had enjoyed a few days earlier. At the time I hadn't read much of the Bible. A few years later, after I had read more of the Bible, I discovered that it was common for God to rename people after experiences with Him. (Saul had become Paul etc) It seemed to be God's way of marking a conversion or rebirth in someone's life.
Since then I have seen seeward as my spiritual name. The name for the way God sees me. Nine years ago when I started this website I registered seeward.com and have always seen this space as a collection box for the things that I am learning, searching for, creating, baffled by, inspired by or just simply things that resonate within my spirit.
I am still Christian McCabe but I am slowly learning to become seeward.
Impresario of Lollapooloza (and Jane's Addiction) Perry Ferrell interview Obey Gaint's mastermin Shepard Fairey about the work of Banksy.
If you are curious about what the illusive Banksy looks like you can catch a glimpse here.
Last night I went to the EXIT opening at John Cox's popop gallery. Five artists were showing Toby Lunn, Heino Schmidt, Blue Curry, Jason Bennet and John Cox. The show was well attended by a diverse selection of people. Art collectors, students, artist's families, and and misc supporters.
I was really struck by some of the work. Jason Bennett had a huge (18 feet by 6 feet) piece that had a very digital, dot matrix effect. Some of his older work that I have seen had a much softer emotional texture. This piece was considerably more blunt! Toby Lunn had a selection of pieces with some zen color choices. Heino wins the award for the most abstract concept.He presented a teeth mold that had sharp points accompanied by two video monitors displaying the proces of creating the molds. The Piece also involved biting some one with the molded teeth. I have to go back and ask Heino more about that concept! Blue Curry faithfully recreated the shopping cart that a very visible local personality pushes around Nassau selling Hub Cabs. I have bought hub caps from him(actually he sold me the very same hubcaps that had fallen off my car =) He scamps around Nassua picking up old hubcaps and pushing his cart. Blue also strapped a video camera to his cart and displayed the footage on the underside of the cart. I think the piece was meant to get the viewer to consider what this man's life must be like. It had a certian shock value as well seeing that it displayed a sign saying "You rich jewish people stay home".
John Cox's work really appealed to me! I purchased a little box object (you can see a close up of it in the video). John explained a similar box to me a few years ago. I remember that the box represents society as he sees it. (I have to aask if this box represents something entirely different) All six sides of the cube shape have three or four small tree branch cuts. These represent the different classes in society. When you place the box down, the side that is on the bottom is the poorer classes. Those who do the jobs that no on else wants to do. These people hold a society together with their strength and humanity. He also mentioned that the box, like society, can shift and another class can move up or down. He also covered the whole corner of his space with a menacing looking face covered, at times with lettering". One of the phrases was "god of the soil". The overall effect in that corner of the room was exciting. Like a funky po/mo camo feel. Lots of orange, red and blacks making it warm as well.
It is great to see the Popop boys putting more work out there. I heard that their next show might be called guerilla and feature stencil and street art forms.
In honor of the stencil artform, i offer this short video displaying some of the recent works from the elusive nassau based spray can artist DeCyPuL. Rumor has it that he is working on a website and is shorty going to take his art to the streets of nassau!
Those fortunate enough to be in LA this week were treated to a publc exhibition of the very public guerilla artist Banksy. Infamous for his particular blending of social critique and stylized vandalism, Banksy has been making a name for himself in the UK (and abroad) by subverting the art establishment. His numerous hoax paintings and sculptures have found their way into some high class gallerys and museums.
You can see some images of his first US show that opened in LA this weekend here or you can read an interview with the anonymous agitator here.
One night, while I was living in Seattle, I was wandering around the Freemont area waiting for my scheduled slot in an open mic show at a local coffeeshop. Me and the two other, chemically altered, musicians saw a strange shape up in the distance underneath a bridge. When we finally made out the figure of the "Freemont Troll" pictured above we stood silent (and a bit freaked out) for a few moments. One of the other musicians took off running back for the safety of the coffeeshop and was still shaking when we arrived back to meet him. If you are interested in the weird edges of public art check this out!
For the second time since its creation, Sacred Space has recieved front page coverage in our biggest national newspaper. Unfortunately this time it was to report that the sculptures have been vandalized. It seems that someone (the words "Peter C was here" were written on one sculpture) took a marker and defaced all thirteen of the African women figures carved by Antonius Roberts. One of the figures suffered more damage, as the head has been removed. The picture in the paper shows the words "Tree Killer" and a skull written on one of the sculptures and a response written by someone else who was defending the fact that the art did not harm the trees.
Some one suggested that we write an open public letter to "Peter C" but I think we should investigate and once we discover who he is we have his scrotum skin pealed off with a rusty set of pliers.
Yesterday at NPCC we had a diversified Service. This is when we suspend the normal Sunday gathering and explore other ways to offer worship to God that are beyond the purely cultural box of a Worship Service. This time we had a few different stations that people could engage.
1. A time of silent reflection in the midst of a Sacred Space of tree sculptures and metal decorations.
2. A chance to plant flowers grown in the NPCC garden into little gift pots that will be given to people who are in the hospital or have a death in the family.
3. An interactive art section where people made other gifts to be given out during hospital visits by NPCC's cares ministry.
Of course, I took part in the art station and made the little collage that you see above. At first I lost focus and made the sun black. A very kind lady next to me gently said "if i was in the hospital and someone brought me a gift that had a black sun, i would most likely pull the plugs on my life support from despression" her point was well taken (even if overstated =) and I changed the color palatte.
Before we broke up into the sections we had one of the most encouraging open discussions i have ever been a part of. People (6 or 8) got up to the mics and shared how much the vision of our community was changing their ideas about church and drawing them closer to God. Their was much talk about NPCC being a safe place and how it felt like a great big party. We must be doing something right because a party is just how Jesus described what the Kingdom of God would feel like! Luke 14:15-24
While in Philly, my brother took Nicole and I to the Grounds for Sculpture in Trenton, NJ. I enjoyed the day a great deal. When you drive into Trenton there is this motto written on the bridge out of town "Trenton Makes The World Takes". Kind of like "We are the good guys!"
Mr Seward Johnson is a sculptor who has put together quite a collection of modern art sculptures. There is humor as well as beauty. One piece is entitled "Pondering the Effects of Exercise" it features two figures lounging at a table covered in wine and empty plates.
You can check out the grounds here.
This weekend some of the Bahamas best artists are exhibiting in Germany. It is great to see the work of John Cox, Blue Curry, Antonius Roberts, Micheal Edwards, Heino Schmind and others traveling across the pond. If you click the link above you can see the site for the gallery that they are showing at. I have seen some of the new work that they are displaying and I really like it. You can see some of John Cox's new work and here about his art here. It is too bad that John's site was taken down recently it was a cool place to see the works of many emerging creative voices in the Bahamas. I hope the German's love Funky Nassau!
This little guy was inspired by my love for graffiti/street art. Watch him spin around, right round, like a record baby! His little stencil glows in the dark. I have now made 25 little figures in the last three weeks. More may be on the way today, stay tuned!
I got a post about Andre Chappelle in the new little guestbook/comment section of the site. Whoever posted, I am speaking of the Andre Chapelle who grew up in the Bahamas and went to school in CT. Here is a little interview with Andre where he talks about going to boarding school in CT. The above painting of Andre is by Bahamian artist Jace from the Famous Faces show that he and Ward Minnis did a few years ago. The piece I mentioned in the other post about the NAGB was also by Jace but was not this portrait. The one I meant used to be on the nagb website but they are renovating at the moment. If you click the image of Andre above you can see the rest of the Famous Faces show.
OK, so about Andre. I am not sure what the person who posted wanted to know(if you're reading post again or email me here. My parents knew Andre's parents and when Andre's dad moved to Miami they reconnected with him. After awhile Andre moved down to Miami as well and for a short while lived with our family. That wasn't odd, our family had at least 8 different people who lived with us while I was growing up. I really liked Andre and in many ways he made God accessible to me. He was studying at the time in Bible school and would have long theological conversations with me. It used to blow my mind that he was what I considered a very religous person and he had an earring. It sort of blew my little box away at the time. Sometimes when I see Andre now I wonder if he isn't (in small ways) better off for not being trapped in our system of comfort and greed. It must be my own hearts way of dealing with the fact that someone I respected (and struggling to still respect him) is living on the streets by choice. I remember a few years ago he got chopped up by the vendors at Potter's Key for stealing. I saw him in the hospital and looked into his eye. He still had his sharp wit and insightful mind but He had stated clearly that he chose his life. I have written songs about Andre, prayed for Andre, given him shoes and short rides through town while he entertains me with memories of the days when he and I weren't that different (Now we are only different on the outside - not in the eyes of God). Between the article and my posts you can tell that Andre's life didn't turn out like many expected but even to this day when I talk to him he seems that he would chose life on the streets over comfort anyday.
I had the pleasure of having an extended conversation with Bahamian artist John Cox. I was asked to write an about globalization's effects on Bahamian culture and John's work. When the article is posted I will put up a link to the site One Small Barking Dog. For now you can click the image above to check out the article and some of John's work.
I am working on a talk about Howard Finster. His story is so interesting. After 40 years of pastoring a church he has a mystical encounter with God and is led to begin making sacred art. His definition of sacred is a little off center and I love it. He paints St John next to Elvis next to George Washington. In the remaining years of his life he created over 40,000 pieces of sacred art on everything from soda cans to plywood. His story led me to a Bahamian folk artist that I have always loved named Amos Furguson. Amos and Howard both painted by faith the visions that God gove them to paint. What a wonderful and powerful God! Make Sacred Art!!!!!
Two weeks ago 50 members of our NPCC community took a tour of the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. Many thanks to John Cox and Michael Johnson for thier wonderful insight and commentary about the works. There were several pieces that touched me but a Peace called Stop by JACE really hit me hard. It was about the homelessness situation in the Bahamas. It had a red figure stopping a car and asking for money. John mentioned that the homeless man was Andre Chappelle. A notorious bahamian street person(by choice) Andre used to live with my family in Miami until one thanksgiving afternoon he went to the store for my mother to get a ham and never returned. Apparently, he drove right to the airport and flew over to Nassau to get high. He has been on the streets ever since. Sometimes when I pick him up in my van, we chat about old times and I am blown away by how good his memory still is after years of drug abuse. He even remembered the street address of our house in Miami. I have long since forgotten the address myself. Click the image above to see the gallery's wonderful website designed by Heino Schmidt.
Can you feel the love? friday night was the opening of the new group exhibition LOVE at the Popop Gallery. As you first enter the location teaming with people and energy, you are caught right away by the invitation of a seven foot sign whose blood red and stained letters proclaim LOVE. Is this a declaration or a confrontation? You are invited to exorcise your personal angst by smashing dark ink filled eggs across the sign. I am not sure what Blue Curry intended with the interactive installation that greets you at the door but it was totally engaging and quite fun as well. Knowing the artists involved, I couldn't imagine a romantic presentation of the idea of love. So right away with Blue's egg sign I was ready to engage all of my senses.
Once you stepped indoors you were completely immersed in images and motion. From John Cox's large banner stretching from floor to ceiling around to Micheal Edwards video projection, your eyes were pulled in many directions. Toby Lunn's work seemed to relax into the softer and more pleasant dimensions of Love, fitting nicely with Heino's fragile sculptures of light and tissue. John Cox had a piece with "that's my boy" written on it. I really like the piece! I like that it's subject matter caught me off guard. Speaking of being caught off guard, one of blue's peices had very interesting little images of couples expressing very physical love. The piece was called Love is Messy. I agree with him entirely.
These are just some first impressions of the experience. It was a little too crowded to take all of the work in, so I must go back next week and have a slow wander around. My overall experience was exciting and engaging even in spite of the fact that there were many things to distract me from the art. Click the image above to download a short video I put together of the event. you must have quicktime installed to view the video. You can get it for free here : apple.com/quicktime If you would like a fullsize version of the movie, email me and I can send it along.
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