Agent of Transformation
Dudley Charles, Image Old House #11 1976.
Dudley Charles, Image Old House #11 1976.

I RECENTLY visited the latest exhibition at the National Gallery, Castellani House, entitled ‘Agent of Transformation’. The exhibition displays an array of fine art by Guyanese artists. As you explore the walls and floor of the gallery you notice how styles, techniques, influences and the execution of subject matter by the artists of the different eras vary. It’s a combination of nature, architecture, still life, people and culture.

What piqued my interest was the people behind the work; the agents of transformation whose search for identity led to the creation of the works that we have an opportunity to view and experience. We are made to embrace our diversity with the notable depiction of African, Indian and Indigenous heritage. As you observe the year in which works were created you get a sense of the various influences that may have contributed to their creation. Some of the artists would have been influenced by their training in Europe and other Caribbean countries. While others would have been influenced by interacting with people of a different culture.

I admire the tenacity of the artists who created between the 1960’s – 1980s because their presence in a complex emerging post-colonial society that had been British Guiana paved the way for this generation. In today’s column, I will highlight a few of them and note some of their major contributions.

Emerson Samuels, Abstract 1966.

Stephanie Correia was taught by E.R. Burrowes during her years at the Guyana Teacher’s Training College in the 1950s. Her dedication to the arts and her creative use of indigenous materials and design made her a recipient of the Medal of Service (M.S) in 1980 and the Golden Arrow of Achievement (A.A) in 1996. She spent a lot of time researching archaeology, anthropology and mythology which informed her work. Stephanie is set apart because of her interpretations, adaptions and the designs she created.

Ian Ivor Thom graduated from the E.R. Burrowes School in 1979. His role in the construction of a larger than life-size bust of the late President L.F.S Burnham, two bronze panels in the Mausoleum, also for the said president and the Damon Monument, honouring the slave leader Damon of the 1834 slave uprising in Essequibo, made him a recipient of the Medal of Service (M.S). He also created the 1823 Monument commemorating one of the largest slave revolts in the English Caribbean. The wooden sculpture entitled ‘Pregnant Woman’ in the National Collection is another testimony of his GREATachievements.

Gary Thomas, a self-taught artist came into prominence in the 1960s. Using the human form as a basis for distortion and variation was able to create dynamic compositions and movement in wood. ‘Retrogression’ is a simple reflection from his secular life.

Winston Strick studied architectural drafting and fine arts in the U.S.A. He worked in a style that stressed a kind illusionism rather than mass. His subjects range from simple dignified genre and figure studies to landscape, all with an emphasis on abstraction. ‘Woman’ is a result of his constant striving for innovation and originality in working with leather in a direction away from functional craft to that of fine craft.

The ‘Agent of Transformation’ exhibition will be on display until March 28, 2020.

Aiesha Scottland is a trained artist and former art educator.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.