This year (on August 6, 2012) Jamaicans all over the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of our nation’s independence. We at the Jamaica Tourist Board invite you to celebrate with us, as we recognize this truly significant moment in our history.
Join us each week as we count down the top authentically Jamaican things to do, eat and experience in over 50 categories during Jamaica’s 50th Anniversary of Independence. This week we continue our special feature withe Jamaican Artists. Masters of colour, material and textiles, these Jamaican artists championed the translation of Jamaica’s natural beauty onto works of art.
Edna Manley (1900-1987)
Edna Manley née Swithenbank, wife of Jamaica’s first Premier Sir Norman Manley and pioneer of Jamaican art, was born in 1900 in Yorkshire, England to a Jamaican mother. She largely influenced sculpting in Jamaica, carrying her skills in the technique in 1922 to the Jamaican art landscape predominantly characterised by watercolour painting. Notable works like “Beadseller” (1923) and “Negro Aroused” set Edna Manley apart as a sculptor, working in both wood and stone.
In 1929 Edna Manley was awarded with the Institute of Jamaica’s Silver Musgrave Medal and in 1943 she became the first recipient of the Gold Musgrave Medal for her outstanding contribution to the arts in Jamaica. The University of the West Indies Mona also conferred her with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters in 1977. Three years later Edna Manley was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaica’s third highest honour at the National Gallery Retrospective Exhibition “Edna Manley the Seventies”.
David Boxer
Artist, historian and educator, David Boxer is the Director Emeritus & Chief Curator of Jamaica’s national gallery, the largest and oldest public art gallery in the Anglophone Caribbean. He has served in the development of Jamaican art through his dedication to the acquisition and exhibition of Jamaican art. After attending Jamaica College in Kingston, Boxer won a scholarship to Cornell University where he majored in art history from 1965 to 1969. On a Gilman scholarship he completed a master’s degree (1973) and a doctorate (1975) in art history at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
His teachings began in the United States at several universities, such as Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland, before returning to Jamaica in 1975 when he was appointed the Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica in Kingston. There he oversees various collections including the National Collection which is held at the gallery and in state residences and embassies in Jamaica and overseas. David Boxer was awarded the National Honour of the Commander of the Order of Distinction (C.D) by the Government of Jamaica in 1991.
Albert Huie (1920-2010)
Referred to as the “Father of Jamaican Painting” Albert Huie discovered his talent for art from an early age. Upon encouragement from his grandmother he travelled from his Falmouth home to Kingston where he began practising his craft by painting on china and glass. After sharing his work with the Secretary of the Institute of Jamaica K. Delves Molesworth, his career took off. Molesworth commissioned him to paint a portrait of his family, an opportunity that blossomed into a lucrative business as it became the fashion for ‘well to do’ persons in Jamaica to have Huie-painted portraits. His work caught the attention of famous Jamaican sculptor Edna Manley, and he later created one of his most notable works “Portrait of Edna Manley” which propelled him further in his career.
He went on to develop a love for landscape painting, fascinated by the effect of light on colour and Jamaica’s inspiring scenery. Albert Huie’s ‘Figurative’ work has been shown in local and international exhibitions. He was a founder of the Jamaica School of Arts and Crafts, which later became the Jamaica School of Art, in 1950. He was awarded the Order of Distinction in 1983 and the Commander of the Order of Distinction award in 1992. In 2001 the renowned author and art critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote the first publication on Huie’s life and work entitled Albert Huie: Father of Jamaican Painting.
Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds (1911-1989)
Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds is hailed as one of Jamaica’s most profound self taught artists. His career began in the 1930’s leading a group the “Intuitives” who tried to capture the spirit and essence of objects and situations in art work. Known not only as an artist but also for his work as a sculptor, Kapo’s work was shown in exhibitions around Jamaica and abroad including New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC. In 1981 the Government of Jamaica chose his painting “Shining Spring” as a wedding gift to be presented to Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer as an encompassing example of Jamaican art.
An ordained revivalist bishop, Kapo was presented several awards prior to his death in 1989. He received a gold medal from Emperor Haile Selassie in 1966 during his visit to Jamaica and three years later received the Institute of Jamaica’s Silver Musgrave Medal. He was also awarded the Order of Distinction in 1977, the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts in 1985 and the Gold Musgrave Medal for his contribution to art in 1986.
Basil Watson
Born in 1958 Basil Watson, son of Jamaican artist Barrington Watson, is a renowned sculptor in his own right. After attending the Jamaica School of Art, Basil Watson ventured in the world of sculpting with a strong background in drawing. Under the guidance of his father, along with the mentorship of Jamaican artist Alexander Cooper and sculptor Christopher Gonzalez he began to hone his skills in the art form. A fascination with the human form fuels his creations which explore the intricate language and expressions of the human body.
Watson produces sculptures of varying sizes, from busts to life size pieces, working in both wood and stone and also wielding mild steel and stainless steel. His works can be seen at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Jamaica’s three major universities along with Savacou Gallery (New York), Mason Murer Gallery (Atlanta, Georgia) and Hearne Gallery (Little Rock, Arkansas). Several of his life size sculptures can be seen across Jamaica including that of Merlene Ottey at Independence Park, George Headley at Sabina Park and Herb McKenley at the National Stadium. Basil Watson also participated in the 7th International Sculpture Symposium in Changchun China in 2004, where he created a life sized monument titled “Earth to Heaven”.
David Pottinger (1911-2007)
David “Jack” Pottinger has been recognised as one of Jamaica’s prolific painters. His 60 year career was dedicated to the sole exploration and presentation of downtown Kingston. A veteran painter of the capital city Pottinger was a self taught artist whose career started in the early 1940’s. After attending art classes taught by Edna Manley at the Junior Centre, Pottinger’s work began to attract attention. Throughout his career he held several one man exhibitions notably those at the Bolivar Gallery from 1974 to1977 and the Mutual Life Gallery from 1988 to 1990.
His work is hailed for representing the varying perspectives of his solitary subject: the alleys and lanes of downtown Kingston abuzz with activity, colour, energy and people. The style of his paintings changed during his career, taking on a darker palette of colour infused with emotion as seen in his 1969 classic “Walk Tall”. He later reverted to his original style of painting referred to by some as ‘rejuvenated realism’. Pottinger was awarded the Institute of Jamaica’s Silver Musgrave Medal in 1987 and the Order of Distinction by the Government of Jamaica in the same year. In 2001 the National Gallery of Jamaica mounted a retrospective of his work in honour of his 90th birthday and a year later he was awarded the Gold Musgrave Medal.
Barrington Watson
Barrington Watson, artist, author and educator has been called one of the most influential figures in art in independent Jamaica. Watson knew his passion from early on, migrating to London to pursue art. He studied at the London School of Printing and Graphic Art then went on to the Royal College of Art. He travelled in Europe to expand his knowledge of art, studying at academies in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and Rome. He returned to Jamaica in 1961, teaching first at the University of the West Indies in the Department of Education.
The educator in Watson was born as he went on to become the first Director of Studies at the Jamaica School of Art in 1962. His contribution to art education in Jamaica continued to grow with the formation of the Contemporary Jamaica Artists Association (1964), Gallery Barrington (1974), the Contemporary Art Center (1984), the Jamaica Art Foundation (1985), the Orange Park Trust in 1991 and the Pan Africanists Committee in 1998. Watson’s art teachings can now be found in his book “Shades of Grey”.
Other notable Jamaican Artists include:
Christopher Gonzalez (sculptor)
Carl Abrahams
Cecil Baugh
Alvin Marriot (sculptor)
Tags: art, caribbean, culture, independence, Jamaica, jamaican
