Smith & Benjamin’s ‘BAHAMIAN ART & CULTURE’ Issue No. 306 Sharing Art & Cultural News of The Bahamas for 19 Years • • • • CLICK HERE to see onli

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Smith & Benjamin’s
‘BAHAMIAN ART & CULTURE’
Issue No. 306

Sharing Art & Cultural News
of The Bahamas for 19 Years

• • • •

CLICK HERE to see online version.

• • • •

COVER IMAGE:
“Staniel Life” (2017) by Bahamian artist Jonathan Bethel
(28" x 22" | Acrylic on canvas)
• • •
This painting by Bethel is part of a new body of work which opens tonight for one night only at 6:30pm at the British Colonial Hilton entitled “Wild Bahamas II”.
• • •

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Thursday, April 27th, 2017

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what’s happening in
bahamian art & culture

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E X H I B I T I O N :

Jonathan Bethel’s: Wild Bahamas, Part 2

OPENS TONIGHT for ONE NIGHT ONLY:
Thursday, April 27th | 6:30-9:30pm
British Colonial Hilton, Victoria Ballroom

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"The Trumpet Sounds" (Acrylic on canvas) by Jonathan Bethel.

Tonight, Bahamian artist Jonathan Bethel will be holding an exhibition of his latest collection of paintings entitled “Wild Bahamas”, Part 2. This exhibition will feature twenty new paintings exploring the concept of our wild, wondrous Bahamaland.

The show delves into this theme from a multitude of angles, with particular emphasis on nature and our wild, wide open spaces. There are pieces which showcase some of our amazing wildlife such as iguanas, in the painting “Exuma Greeters”, as well as others depicting some of our birds and underwater life.

When we think of wide open spaces in The Bahamas, we generally think of the beautiful water and that theme is explored in depth with vivid images of storms on the ocean as well as completely serene harbours, as depicted in the painting, “Hope Town Reflections”. The theme of wild Bahamas is also explored from the idea of the people of The Bahamas and some of their wild and amazing activities. This is delightfully represented in the show’s cover piece, “Legend”, which shows the Rupert’s Legend sloop racing in dramatic rough seas, with its crew of fifteen fully engaged in the battle.

Valet parking at a special rate has been made available for guests of this show. You can also self-park in the new Pointe Parking Garage adjacent to the Hilton.

CLICK HERE for exhibition’s Facebook event page.

Legend

"Legend" by Jonathan Bethel, 24" x 36", Acrylic on canvas.

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Thierry Lamare Retrospective:
Love, Loss and Life

OPENS TONIGHT: Thursday, April 27th | At 6:30pm
National Art Gallery of The Bahamas | West Hill Street

NAGB Logo 2017 Sq

The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas will produce and present a retrospective of Thierry Lamare’s work entitled, “Love, Loss and Life”.

Painter and transplant Thierry Lamare has called The Bahamas his home for almost thirty years. Over that period, he has become a keen observer of the Bahamian landscape, its people, customs, and traditions, some of which are slowly fading, others shifting quickly like the dying light which he captures so evocatively.

Following the tradition and genre of Realism, Lamare’s gaze and painterly gestures gently reconstruct the quality of the space that he occupies reflecting the warmth and the coolness of the tropics. The union he has with his muses Ophelia and Joyce – are featured in this exhibition and highlight the legitimacy of the connections he has made. It reveals his innate ability to bring unlikely beings together, opening up a powerful field of understanding. In Lamare’s paintings, one can easily escape into a world where time stands still and the beauty of the everyday comes into sharp focus.

Thierry Lamare: Love, Loss and Life will be on view at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas from April 27, through September 10, and features over 100 works drawn from over 60 private, local and international collections.

CLICK HERE for exhibition page at NAGB’s website.
CLICK HERE for exhibition’s event page on Facebook.

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George Cox—The Unseen Structure: Through the lens of John Cox

OPENS TONIGHT: Thursday, April 27th | At 6:30pm
National Art Gallery of The Bahamas | West Hill Street

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A retrospective focusing on the works of Bahamian Civil and Structural Engineer George Cox, The Unseen Structure showcases several important sites of development across New Providence and several family islands. The Unseen Structure will be informed by collaborations with architect Teran Nicholls and Patrick Rahming, former associates of Cox along with contemporary artists. Artists and collaborations in the exhibition will function as a way to strip away that layer, barrier, and partition with the people who live in an environment and the apparatus of it being.

Parallel to the NAGB’s renovation that took place during 1996 through 2002, The Unseen Structure will expand and explore the dynamic range of structural and civil engineering as an art form, often invisible and undervalued in our culture. It will also touch on the unseen or unexplored stories behind many of our historic buildings: while the Villa Doyle, which houses the NAGB for example, is chiefly known through through its inhabitants, the Cox family is connected to it over three generations in roles ranging from contractor (Fred Dillet, 1924), to civil engineer (George Cox, 1996) and chief curator (John Cox, 2011-2013).

We will use this showcase to think about structures and use, as it is important to think about art as not the subject but a vehicle that can carry and transform ideas.

CLICK HERE for exhibition page at NAGB’s website.
CLICK HERE for exhibition’s event page on Facebook.

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Ubersee

Übersee:
Cuba and The Bahamas: Contemporary
Art from the Caribbean

April 29—August 6, 2017
HALLE 14 Center for Contemporary Art, Leipzig, Germany

“Übersee: Cuba and The Bahamas: Contemporary Art from the Caribbean” features the work of 38 Bahamian and Cuban artists whose work continue to confront ideas around consumption, tourism, economies, utopia and complex identities connected to the landscape and bodies.

The Bahamas and Cuba share a common history of colonialism and slavery, and yet they are very different in tradition, form of government, ethnicity, language and religion. The exhibition speaks of complex identities from African, indigenous and European roots, as well as the ghosts of colonialism and life on an island.

Participating Bahamian artists include: John Beadle, Blue Curry, Kendra Frorup, Tamika Galanis, Arnold Kemp, Dominique Knowles, Anina Major, Jace McKinney, Jeffrey Meris, Kareem Mortimer, Angelique V. Nixon, Holly Parotti, Lynn Parotti, Khia Poitier, Antonius Roberts, Heino Schmid, Steven Schmid, Dave Smith, Giovanna Swaby, Tessa Whitehead, and Natalie Willis.

Co-Curators for the exhibition include, Holly Bynoe from The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and Vancouver-based, Cuban curator Antonio Eligio (Tonel). The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is also proud to support and announce that artists Lynn Parotti, Jeffrey Meris and Blue Curry will be on short term residencies at the Halle 14, Leipzig producing new works and installations for Übersee.

CLICK HERE to see exhibition page at Halle 14.

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C O N C E R T :

Nassau Music Society presents its
April Concert & Cocktail Social

Sunday, April 30th, 2017 | At 5:30pm
St. Paul’s Church Hall, Lyford Cay, Nassau

NMS-End-of-Year-Concert

(Top) Bel Canto Singers; (Bottom) Shavincia Saunders, Travis Rolle, Nathan Lightbourne and Romel Shearer.

Come celebrate the end of The Nassau Music Society’s musical season. We are ending the season with a fabulous April Concert & Cocktail Social on Sunday, 30th April, 2017 at St. Paul’s Church Hall, Lyford Cay starting at 5:30 pm (nice and early). Admission is only $20 per adult, $5 for students and NMS members are admitted for free.

The concert will feature the full choir of Nassau’s famous Bel Canto Singers, Nathan Lightbourne in a talented piano and cello duet with Romel Shearer, and a wonderful flute and guitar duo with our own Shavincia Saunders and the young and gifted Travis Rolle. Please don’t miss this fine line-up of some of The Bahamas’ most talented musicians. The artists will be performing famous Broadway tunes, beautiful Classical songs and selections from Bahamian Folk Opera–The Legend of Sammy Swain, amongst others!

The concert will be followed by our End of the Season Social with delicious light eats and a full bar for cocktails. Tickets will be available at the door.

CLICK HERE to visit the event’s Facebook page.
CLICK HERE to visit the Nassau Music Society’s website.

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Vice-Versa-April-27

J A Z Z :

Jazz & Cocktails with Vice Versa Band

THIS SUNDAY:
April 30th
6pm–8pm
Balmoral Club, Sanford Drive

Hello Jazz enthusiasts! The Vice Versa Band has a treat for you this Sunday night. They’re calling it “DOUBLE WHAMMY NIGHT” as they welcome two of the most outstanding male voices in The Bahamas today to sit in with them for an unforgettable musical experience.

Clement Penn only needs to sing one single note, and you immediately envision being wrapped in fine silk. Clement is a prolific vocalist with a voice you can’t get enough of.

Jonathan Farrington is one of those gifted souls born to sing. His unique talent has afforded him opportunities to perform throughout The Bahamas, the USA, Canada and other countries. His strong gospel roots add an interesting depth and flair to his powerful, earthy sound. It’s hard to label his singing style, other than by simply describing his vocals as extraordinary!

Entrance is $25 and includes one complimentary cocktail, plus valet services. Additional food and beverages available for purchase. Be early for best seating. Spread the word! See you there!

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art & culture news
from the bahamas

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Lou Adams

Bahamian musical legend Lou Adams passes away

The Bahamian music world lost an icon this week in the person of trumpeter and band leader Lou Adams.

Mr. Lou Adams, a suave, well-spoken and sharp-witted gentleman of great talent and tremendous recall, was without doubt one of the elder statesmen in the music industry in The Bahamas.

Adams was born in 1922 in Nassau and had been in the music business for over 77 years. His early childhood was spent on Fowler Street where he was born, and later, for most of his youth, on Shirley Street. Around 1927, he attended The Victoria School, which was later named the Curry School and subsequently the Worrel School, and is now referred to as Eastern Junior. After completion of lower school, he went on to Eastern Senior on Shirley Street which was headed by Mr. Mansfield, an Englishman, and following that, Mr. C.I. Gibson, a prominent educator after whom a government school is named. Adams recalls that many of the prominent members of society also attended Eastern Senior.

lou adams

Lou Adams with his Orchestra in front of the Lyford Cay Club where they performed for many years. The quality music they provided is credited with bringing many tourists back to that resort time and time again.

As a child, live bands were not common at all. In fact, Adams was about fourteen when he heard about “The Chocolate Dandies”, a group which he believes had been in existence for about five to six years prior. That would place the band’s formation in the early thirties. The Chocolate Dandies were heavily influenced by big band music of the time.

In the early 1930s, Lou was impressed by a gentleman by the name of Bill Moore, the first “colored” (the term then used for Blacks) trumpet player to play with the many white foreign bands that frequently played in New Providence. As early as he could recall, The Royal Victoria, Fort Montague, and The British Colonial hotels all hired these bands to perform for all of their special functions. These bands greatly influenced the local musicians, exposing them to the sound of big band, jazz, Broadway, and other popular music from the U.S. and the United Kingdom. [...]

CLICK HERE to read full bio by Chris Justilien at Bahamas Entertainers.

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Thierry Lamare-SMOKE-ON-THE-FARM-SMALL1

"Smoke on the Farm" by Thierry Lamare.

A master of dramatic radiance

Sir Christopher Ondaatje on the French-born Bahamian artist who will be holding a retrospective of his works in The National art Gallery of The Bahamas.

by Sir Christopher Ondaatje

Thierry Lamare was born in 1957 in Saint Germain-en-Laye, a suburb of Paris. He studied art at the Atelier du Sculpture Etienne Martin and architecture at the École Camondo. He first came to The Bahamas in 1985 on a wind-surfing holiday, and almost immediately fell in love with the islands, and also with his Bahamian wife Joie Brown.

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Artist Thierry Lamare.

Lamare, inspired by the magic and colour of The Bahamas, started experimenting with colour and also the unique drama of the native human form. He never looked back. The character of the people and the surrounding landscapes influenced the style, technique and understanding of their way of life.

Initially in 1987, he and his young wife lived in France, but came back every year to spend four months in the islands. However, in 2001, they moved to New Providence permanently and bought Bahama Hand Prints, which they still own. The couple now have two daughters Laura, 24, who lives in Paris and Julia 23, who lives in Vancouver. They try to get back to France at least once a year.

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"Day to Day" by Thierry Lamare.

Lamare’s restless curiosity forced him to explore the Bahamian islands looking for subjects and local culture. He soon discovered Cat Island, Abaco, and Long Island — where he met Joyce Strachan and Ophelia Smith. They have been models for Lamare’s dramatic portraits for the last 20 years and have spawned some of his best known works. Painting mainly in watercolour (traditional washes and mixed dry brush), egg tempera, and sometimes black and white medium (graphite, charcoal, ink pastel and casein), Lamare’s art has matured dramatically over the past 30 years. [...]

CLICK HERE to read full article on Pg 12 in The Tribune Weekend.
CLICK HERE to visit Thierry Lamare’s website.

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Bahamian-Project-Auction

(Top Left Clockwise) Charlie Smith portrait by Duke Wells, Painting by Nicole Collie, Giveton Gelin portrait by Alessandro Sarno, and painting by Navarro Newton.

Capturing the cultural essence

Bahamian Project to
host live auction

by Cara Hunt

The Bahamian Project will host a special art auction to help raise funds for the framing and printing of its newest portraits to be presented in an exhibit this July. The art auction will take place at Antonius Robert’s Hillside House on May 4.

“We really are hoping that we can raise a sufficient amount of funds from this event,” said Duke Wells, Bahamian Project founder. “The printing and framing of these portraits can be quite expensive and we can use any help that we can get.”

Mr. Wells and his wife Lisa created The Bahamian Project as a way to create a permanent collection of photographs of persons who exemplify what it means to be Bahamian.

“We are not necessarily looking for prominent persons in society, but we are looking at persons who just have good moral character and who have in whatever small way contributed to the development of the Bahamas,” Mr. Wells explained.

“For example, we have photographed Gertrude Burnside who is the mother of (artists) Jackson and Stan Burnside. Many people may not have known her, but she was a great mother and gave the country great children. We have photographed the phone card vendor on Shirley Street, Anthony Lee, and we have photographed James Catalyn. And while Mr. Catalyn may be more well known, Mr. Lee has probably made as many people smile in traffic. We aren’t here to be the beauty pageant type of honour, those have their place, but we are interested in having a permanent collection of persons who embody what a true Bahamian is no matter their endeavours or social status.” [...]

CLICK HERE to read full article on Pg 8 in The Tribune Weekend.

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Peter-Deveaux-Isaacs2

Aspiring Bahamian musician Peter Deveaux-Isaacs .

Bahamian rhapsody:
“I always knew music was going
to be a constant”

Political science major and son of Bahamian diplomat, Peter Deveaux-Isaacs combines his passions of music and law into a ‘marriage’ that works well for him.

by Whitney Mason

Stationed in the Islands of The Bahamas, 13-year-old Peter Deveaux-Isaacs was chubby, introverted and establishing his rapping skills. He began experimenting with rap music at age 12.

Music had been the center of Deveaux-Isaacs’ life. His grandfather was a professional piano player and Deveaux-Isaacs’ family had a grand piano inside their home.

“The house was always filled with church hymnals and spiritual songs, and that provided me with a base,” Deveaux-Isaacs said. “I took the liberty to build on top of that.”

Deveaux-Isaacs recalled locking himself inside of his bedroom and downloading copies of music. “You name it, I had it,” he said. “At some point and I knew the ins and outs of it by 17.”

Deveaux-Isaacs, junior in political science, credited his rapping skills with the development of his writing. He can write any song in any type of musical genre and his musical exposure blossomed into musical production.

“I didn’t want to download other people’s beats or anything else they own. I wanted to do it all on my own,” Deveaux-Isaacs said. [...]

CLICK HERE to read full article at Iowa State Daily.

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Natalie-Appleyard

Natalie Appleyard

Meet Natalie Appleyard,
‘the Bahamian
Martha Stewart’

by Jeffarah Gibson

Witnessing special events at the White House in her youth and throwing elaborate parties for friends and family is what sowed the seeds for Natalie Appleyard’s extremely successful event planning business.

As founder and creative director of Wildflowers Events & Occasions – one of the most sought-after event production companies in The Bahamas – Natalie has not only found professional success, but also her life’s passion.

Natalie’s career in event planning began almost 40 years ago when she was just a teenager looking to throw the best parties for relatives.

“My father was an ambassador in Washington and I lived with him for a few years. I did all of his parties over there. I would go with him to the White House and saw what they did and I wanted to do better than that,” she said.

In order to put her talent to work for her, she began planning events for anyone who would let her. This was a win-win scenario for her, since friends and family members were always impressed with what she put together and Natalie got an opportunity to put her design skills to the test.

“I always designed my friends’ birthdays. When I did birthday parties for children, the parents would say, ‘That’s a birthday party for a child?’ Then friends wanted me to do their dinners parties. My friends would call me ‘Martha Stewart from The Bahamas’ because I love to cook and decorate. [...]

CLICK HERE for full story from The Tribune Woman.

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Youth Film WOrkshop

BIFF’s Film Workshops

For over 13 years, the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) has organized Film Workshops to 1000 students in Nassau, Exuma and Eleuthera. The reputation BIFF has built to impact the youth of these communities has been very positive through educational initiatives that allow them to explore their creativity and gain knowledge about the film industry as a whole. Students are introduced and work in all the different jobs on a film set: Actor, Director, Sound and Lighting and editing all the essentials of making a film from pre-production to editing. The Film Workshop will teach 120 students from 5 schools on 2 islands for 3 weeks.

From April 24th to May 12th, students will learn from BIFF approved film professional, Assatu Wisseh of University Of Georgia and Bahamian Filmmaker Jennifer N. Simms. The 2017 Participating Schools are Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute, Bishop Michael Eldon School, Centreville Primary School, Genesis Academy, and St. John’s College.

Youth Film WOrkshop3
Youth Film WOrkshop2

In addition to the Film Workshop in schools, BIFF offers the Film Workshop to the Public on Saturday, April 29th and Saturday, May 6th from 9am to 4pm at the BIFF office. The cost of the Film Workshop is $100.

In these hands-on workshops, you will learn script writing, casting and character selection, acting, cinematography, film scoring and film editing.

Student films created during the 3-week Film Workshops will be showcased at the 2017 Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) scheduled for December 10th–13th in Harbour Island & December 14th–17th in Nassau.

BIFF would like to thank our sponsors for making this possible: URCA, Sunshine Insurance, Sandyport Beach Resort, Bahamasair, University of Georgia, Donkin Donuts Bahamas, Avis, Bahamas Local and Club One Fitness.

For more information and to register, please call 242 698-1800 or email festasst@bintlfilmfest.com.

CLICK HERE for full details at the BIFF site.

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Keisha-Oliver-portrait

Bahamian artist Keisha Oliver.

A retrospective conversation

Keisha Oliver takes a retrospective look at her life, work and thoughts over the years in her latest solo show entitled “33: ‘til now.” The exhibit opened last Thursday at the Pro Gallery at the University of the Bahamas’ (UB) Oakes Field campus.

Oliver, a visual artist, designer, writer and art educator, engages in multidisciplinary art which often utilises discarded objects and the environment to explore themes of social heritage and cultural fragmentation.

Her love for collecting is translated through a body of work both personal and reflective that offers an autobiographical conversation and testimony of her thoughts on the little things we often take for granted.

In “33: ‘til now,” cherished objects are re-imagined though the visual and literary art forms as she is seen challenging the definition and boundaries of herself as an artist. Pushing her artistic practice into unfamiliar territories of poetry and print-making, her newest work strives to reveal intimate and compelling connections in storytelling through text, images and objects. [...]

CLICK HERE to read full article on Pg 11 in The Tribune Weekend.

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‘Real Bahamian Art Series’ (2006), Dionne Benjamin-Smith, digital print on paper, 24 x 36 (4). Installation shot as seen in the NAGB Permanent Exhibition ‘Revisiting An Eye For the Tropics’.

Creating Thinking Spaces

Opportunity to think, opportunity to build, opportunity to grow.

The University of The Bahamas and the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas have created an open space for group discussion that allows students to benefit from the offering of both spaces. This relationship allows culture to truly be highlighted. As much as we talk about culture, we often disconnect our experiences from talk. These lectures are designed to promote thought and unshackle minds blinkered by a dysfunctional system designed to create workers without a sense of self, or an identity that can transcend the 9 to 5 and the 21 by 7 of the mundane.

The talks blend history, art, culture, sociology, architecture and create a dialogue to facilitate learning beyond the classroom. The gallery and the university work together to expose students to many different thought processes and realities, provoking thinking and thoughtful creativity. It is significant that the talks take place in the space of art, where so much of the discussion is concurrently witnessed by the works on the walls and by the building itself.

Last week, students walked through Edrin Symonette’s installation “Residues of a Colonial Past” now housed in the Project Space Room and others left at the end of the talk to wander around the recent re-hanging of the permanent exhibition framed by Dr. Krista Thompson’s “An Eye for the Tropics”, which focuses on the ways the islands and their islanders are represented by renderings of visitors, tourists, and residents, that typecast and stereotype. The displays of old, hand-painted/drawn postcards are a salient part of art, history and art history that serve to inform so many discussions of our past, present and future. [...]

CLICK HERE for full article in The Nassau Guardian.

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Kendra-Frorup DomesticChickens

Kendra Frorup’s ‘Domestic Chickens’ (2007) installation is one of the lesser-known pieces in the National Collection. The 2017-2018 Permanent Exhibition, ‘Revisiting An Eye For The Tropics’, is a departure point for us to look to the way the past.

NAGB’s
Art of the Month for April

Kendra Frorup’s ‘Domestic Chickens’.

Kendra Frorup’s ‘Domestic Chickens’ (2007) installation is one of the lesser-known pieces in the National Collection. The 2017-2018 Permanent Exhibition, ‘Revisiting An Eye For The Tropics’, is a departure point for us to look to the way the past has informed the present aesthetic in Bahamian artwork, and also importantly to showcase the works in the National Collection and remind us of what we have ownership and pride over as Bahamians.

Kendra-Frorup DomesticChickens2

Detail of Kendra Frorup’s ‘Domestic Chickens’ (2007)

For us here at the NAGB, it was originally installed in the Project Space Room of the Gallery, back when it was still known as the ‘Inner Sanctum’. It is at first glance a quirky work, and though the format is different from what we expect from Frorup, it is very much in keeping with her practice through its use of the symbolism of the chicken. In context, the image of the chicken holds a certain function here given that we see them both domesticated and wild so often throughout the islands. However, we also understand the stereotypes associated with our black American neighbors.

The work originally included row upon row of the strange, box-like, chicken-footed marionette sculptures, but for this current Permanent Exhibition, we have pared it back a little to fit in the cozy niches in the North-Eastern gallery. It has retained its gravitas and presence, for certain, but the drama of how it was previously lit — in darkness, with theatrical spots — has been presented in a slightly more intimate manner. The chickens here ‘behave themselves’ and fit in with the abstract works of the ‘Resisting Representation’ room aptly. [...]

CLICK HERE for full article at the Nassau Guardian.

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Artists-Walk-Marina-Village

The Art Walk at Marina Village, which is held twice per month at Atlantis, is a must do event. (Photo: Shavaughn Moss)

Taking in the
Art Walk at Marina Village

From visual artists to ceramicists to farmer’s market purveyors, with everything from jams and jellies to native teas and drink, cheesecake and chocolate, locally grown herbs and greens, cooling popsicles and vegan treats — the twice per month Art Walk at Atlantis has become a must-do Saturday outing. With a constant rotation of artists and artisans, live entertainment, cooling and delicious libations and nibbles to be had, you never know which artist or artisan will be displaying, and what they will have on offer.

Since its debut the art walk has expanded exponentially. It is where you can indulge your taste for art, crafts, an appreciation for music by Bahamian artisans and locally grown and made products.

The Art Walk at Marina Village is held every second and fourth Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 pm.

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art news & stories
from the caribbean
and around the world

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Jonathan Demme May 2015

Jonathan Demme. (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

A look into Jonathan Demme’s history of collecting outsider art

by Nate Freeman

Jonathan Demme, who died yesterday in New York after battling esophageal cancer, was best known for his films and concert documentaries, and rightfully so. The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia were both big, celebrated Oscar-winners, just two years apart. Stop Making Sense is quite possibly the best rock film of all time. I mean, look at David Byrne in his Japanese Noh suit and try to disagree. (Pauline Kael, a fan of Demme’s, said the suit reminded her of Joseph Beuys.) And his filmography is peppered with hugely influential classics like Something Wild, which starts with a prim Jeff Daniels meeting an electric Melanie Griffith in a little diner in SoHo and takes off from there.

But Demme was also a prominent collector of outsider art, primarily work by self-trained artists in Haiti. He began collecting in 1986 when he discovered work at a gallery near his apartment on the West Side of Manhattan, and soon started making frequent visits to the island, often commissioning work by local artists. By the time he decided to sell 80 percent of his collection—over 1,000 works—at an auction in Philadelphia in 2014, he was one of the word’s leading Haitian art devotees. The auction was estimated to bring in over a million, and much of that was donated to a cultural center in Port au Prince. [...]

CLICK HERE for full article at Art News.

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I.M. Pei in the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, on opening day, 1 June 1978 (Photo: courtesy of the National Gallery of Art)

I.M. Pei’s
life and work celebrated
to mark architect’s centenary

Chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design the Kennedy Library, he went on to build landmark museums across the globe.

by Aimee Dawson

The Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei turned 100 years old on 26 April, and institutions across the globe are celebrating his centenary. The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), where Pei both studied and taught, is co-organising a series of conferences with the University of Hong Kong and M+ museum about the architect’s influence. “We hope to generate a much-needed contemporary discourse on the global significance of Pei’s prodigious list of incredible projects,” says Mohsen Mostafavi, the dean of Harvard GSD. During his six-decade career, Pei became increasingly interested in museum projects. Here are our picks of his most notable museum buildings. [...]

CLICK HERE for full article in The Art newspaper.

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Damien-and-damien

Damien and his figurehead. Courtesy of Kenny Schachter.

Is this show worth a billion dollars?

A few thoughts on Damien Hirst’s new venture in Venice. Our itinerant dealer-scribe stops by to drink in Damien Hirst’s subaqueous art extravaganza.

by Kenny Schachter

Buckets of (digital) ink have already been spilled on the subject, but I’ll add more. I have pretty much seen every artwork that Damien Hirst has made, read his book On the Way to Work (written with Gordon Burn in 2001), and sat through both Sotheby’s auctions he staged in 2004 and 2008. I’ve bought, sold, curated, and continue to own his pieces. Hirst game-changed history with his early spot paintings referencing pills and his vitrine and cabinet still lifes. At my age, you readily relate to (and can find beauty in) the concept and appearances of medication.

I’ve often smiled at the witticisms of his words and titles too, from the shark (version one-of-many) to the skeleton seeming to float on a glass cross with bobbing ping-pong ball eyes titled Rehab Is for Quitters (1998-99). Drugs, booze and death, religion and redemption—he hit them all, hard. His successes were awe-inspiring and part of the program since its inception. You can’t manufacture the degree of accomplishments and brilliance of his early works from the late 1980s to the mid-’90s, which, for better or worse, spawned his latest project, “Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable,” at François Pinault’s palaces in Venice. You won’t find much humble pie on the menu there. [...]

CLICK HERE for full article in The Art Newspaper.

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Gaudi House

Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Vicens.

Gorgeous photos of the first house designed by Antoni Gaudí before it opens to the public

After more than a century as a private home, the building will reopen as a museum dedicated to the architect this fall.

by Sarah Cascone

After a year’s delay, Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Vicens, a former private home in Barcelona, will open to the public for the first time as a museum this fall. The gorgeously tiled property was the first house the legendary Catalan architect ever built, and is considered by some to be his first masterpiece. Gaudí began working on it in 1883 when he was just 31 years old, and completed it in 1885.

Together with seven other Gaudí buildings in or near Barcelona, including the famously unfinished Sagrada Familia church and Parque Güell, Casa Vicens has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site since 2005. The UNESCO listing notes that Casa Vicens “has undergone only minor conservation and restoration work.” [...]

CLICK HERE for full article at The Art Newspaper.

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Everyone has their own view of the world (Photo: David Crausby/Getty)

Creative people physically see and process the world differently

by Alice Klein

If you’re the kind of person who relishes adventure, you may literally see the world differently. People who are open to new experiences can take in more visual information than other people and combine it in unique ways. This may explain why they tend to be particularly creative.

Openness to experience is one of the “big five” traits often used to describe personality. It is characterised by curiosity, creativity and an interest in exploring new things. Open people tend to do well at tasks that test our ability to come up with creative ideas, such as imagining new uses for everyday objects like bricks, mugs or table tennis balls.

There’s some evidence that people with a greater degree of openness also have better visual awareness. For example, when focusing on letters moving on a screen, they are more likely to notice a grey square appearing elsewhere on the display. [...]

CLICK HERE for full article at New Scientist.

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Smith & Benjamin’s Bahamian Art & Culture eMagazine

Art & Culture were
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spirit of mankind.

Bahamian Art & Culture eMagazine
is an email magazine concentrating on the
art & culture of The Bahamas and the world around us. It is published once a week and is a service of Smith & Benjamin Art & Design, a design firm based in Nassau,
The Bahamas offering graphic design,
custom illustration, fine art, art marketing,
art brokerage and publishing.

Dionne Benjamin-Smith, Editor & Publisher:
dionne@smith-benjamin.com
Stephanie Shivers, Account & Office Manager:
stephanie@smith-benjamin.com

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