An explosion of art

In a country as small as Trinidad and in Port-of-Spain alone it seems incredible that there are enough artists painting, sculpting, carving, working in ceramics, batik and collage to keep at least five commercial art galleries in business. Yet, apart from a week or two after Christmas and through August, almost every week two or three Private Views open exhibitions in commercial art galleries thus proving that art, the graphic arts, are thriving here. Art Creators, the first commercial gallery to be established in Port-of-Spain, celebrated a silver anniversary this year. The Gallery 1.2.3.4, Hotel Normandie (also in St Ann’s) has been in business for the past 17 years. 101, Tragarete Road, an Art Gallery is 13 years old. Horizons opened the Gallery doors at the turn of the century, Fine Art Picture Gallery has only been open for the past three to four months.

There are art galleries outside Port-of-Spain; Studio 66 in Barataria is  an artist’s community workshop that holds exhibitions from time to time, Top of the Mount, St Benedict, tends to be commercial. Recently an art gallery opened in San Fernando; Luise Kimme’s fantastic Castle of Art and The Art Gallery in Lowlands are the best-known galleries in Tobago. It may seem incredible that a country as small as Trinidad and Tobago can support so many art galleries; there are, however,  an incredible number of gifted and talented artists living and working here. Their work range from the strictly photo-realist to enigmatic abstracts and near-incomprehensible installations — and every imaginable genre in between those two extremes. There are at least 28 artists exhibiting new works every year (sometime twice a year). At least 32 artists exhibit, on average, every other year. Most are solo exhibitions. Were one to include artists regularly exhibiting in joint exhibitions the numbers must rise to three figures — with more added to their ranks every year. There is, indeed an explosion of art, some of excellent, some very good, some good, some so-so — and of some the less said the better.

Leroy Clarke and Karen Sylvester top the commercial market (of whom it must be said that no two artists could be further apart — thus providing us with a glimpse of local collectors’ tastes in art). Then (in no particular order of merit or cash rewards) there are Jackie Hinkson?s breathtaking drawings and watercolours and his unforgettable murals of the Life of Christ in Trinidad, Dermot Louison’s painting of the bush and its people and, recently sketches in the manner of the late John Newell Lewis, Sundiata’s brilliantly coloured impressions of Carnival, Steel, markets and cane, Martin Superville’s dancers, Lisa O’Connors “signature” impasto paintings of land and seascapes, Shastri Maharaj?s women, deep in meditation in canefields.

We draw breath for a moment before turning to the intricate, enigmatic, meticulously executed, somewhat ribald drawings of Eddie Bowen, the equally meticulously painted, precious miniatures of Peter Sheppard, Shalini?s strange figures, their necks permanently crooked and Wendy Nanan’s lightning sketches of cricket in the Oval. Her work may puzzle the average viewer but when Pat Bishop has an exhibition of new work, collectors from overseas, anxious to add one or two pieces to their collections, time their visits to coincide with her show. Angelica Barrow also exhibits every other year; her abstract impressionist works speak to one through the colours she choses. Nigel Parris?s works give the impression of abstract stained glass with echoes of the labyrinthine works of Clarke.

In contrast, Mary Adams observes each detail of such humble vegetables as mushrooms and onions — one discovers a delight in the ordinary in this artist?s work. Maureen Ottier’s landscapes and seascapes tending towards the impressionist, are lovely, calming, enchanting. Though some may disagree, there is more to art than painting. Many of the ceramics, the pottery, of Bunty O’Connor, and most of the pots of Mark Frederick are for decoration only, to put on a shelf, in a display cabinet, on a coffee table to admire the shape, the glaze, the creativity of the potter. Althea Bastien?s batiks are works of art that also draw visitors from overseas, her colours and cloths glow, beckon, invite as they hang on the walls of The gallery 1.2.3.4 (the only gallery large enough to show her work). Tonia St Cyr is the mistress of collage in TT — no more need be said of this artist. Who could omit Larry Mosca’s painting of birds, Leo Glasgow’s linear paintings of landscape, Boscoe Holder?s portraits of beautiful women, Brian Wong Won’s crazy houses, Kimme’s massive statues, Sarah Beckett’s gorgeous colours in her impressions of the abstract?

So far — but space permits no farther — we have only touched on the works of a third of the artists regularly exhibiting their work in four galleries in Port-of-Spain. Some are native born and bred, a few, like Sarah Beckett and Rex Dixon, chose to come to Trinidad to work and exhibit. Some have studied in Paris, in art schools in New York, Canada, the UK or the Centre for Creative Arts, UWI, others are entirely self-taught. Yet we have not touched on the contemporary art scene at CCA7 housed in the Fernandes Industrial Centre; it is there one can see the experimental, puzzling works of artists-in-residence (some from as far away as Canada, some home-grown)... There is a feast of the graphic arts for those who chose to visit art galleries. There is no obligation to buy — indeed, few can afford the works of the major and the well-known artists here; their paintings tend to be snapped up by banks and insurance companies. Yet all are welcome to browse, to “window-shop” and so learn to appreciate the many and varied works of the multitude of artists on display in the galleries of Trinidad and Tobago.