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Fine Artists of Barbados

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Barbados fine arts

Art has been the historian of culture and landscape long before we had the camera. Art captures the moment; a story, a scene, a statement, ideas and emotions. In the hands of a skilled artist, landscapes transform into interpretations of a land, a country and a way of life; some with great leaps of imagination and fantasy. These picture stories can be mystic, realistic, conceptual or abstract.

I have observed that many of the most successful artists are not always the best painters. Greatness in art comes from those who tell us more than we can see for ourselves and make us see things differently.

There are many such artists in Barbados, leaving a legacy of vibrant landscapes and a tapestries of culture in a fashion similar to the group of 7 Canadian artists. Alison Chapman Andrews, with her giant leaps and bold interpretations show us how distinctive the island of Barbados is. Along with her are the landscapes of Martina Pile, Ann Dodson and the fanciful people and lifestyles of the island by Terrence Piggot, amongst many others.

Barbados fine arts

This group sees the island in undulations, shapes and colours that are a surreal version of the fact. Like the group of 7, they paint what they see with bold stokes that wake us up to the beauty of the landscape: - sharp contrasts and simple forms pulled out of reality by observation of the simple in the clutter of abundance. These artists separate the trees from the forest to marvel at nature and its perfect form, symmetry and mystic resonance

Closely related are the abstract painters like Jamal Ince who says, “In my work I strive to create a form of cultural memory using what I call visual reasoning. Music, particularly jazz, has always been a major influence on my work for several reasons. The improvisational nature of the music has made it one of America's truly classical art forms born from modest beginnings.”

Barbados fine arts

Abstracts see form and colour in a pure form, like the simple mahogany tree root washed up as driftwood on the shore, its form is pure and meaningful. We may conjure up meaning in the shapes but there may be no need to, form and colour resonate with our senses on their own.

Abstract Artists like Lilian Sten-Nicholson, blend some representational and sometimes mystic qualities into the abstracts, as in “And Still I Rise” where a fraction of a blue figure bends into and comes out of a swirling blue paint of water and waves.

Ras Ishi Butcher puts his abstract and spiritual paintings into perspective: “The process of painting or of an artist creating is an act of magic. It’s a ritual of endowing objects or images with beauty.”

The conceptual artists find form as representation. They include Arlette St.Hill: “As a Caribbean woman of African descent, my work reflects the challenges of the diverse yet rich cultural heritage of my people.”

Wayne Hinds, working with colour pencils and pastels on paper, leave a strong message in his art, like the naked tree in “lodging for many, home to none”. “As humans we are encapsulated by mortality, but as artists we can soar beyond the confinements of this shell, and live infinitely through our work.”

Mythology and spirituality are a popular genres in Barbados art with painters like Jill McIntyre: “My paintings are windows to my soul; I paint to celebrate life. I want my work to express my joy in being alive. I want people to feel happy and uplifted when they see my work.”

There are realists and representational artists too like Darla Trotman, whose paintings seem like a photo except when you look closely and see her distinctive touch, her play with colour and her character.

The people and culture of Barbados, the chattel house and everyday life have been captured by Gill Walker with her unique stick figures, who are surprisingly alive with form and movement. Many others, from Fielding Babb with his images of cane cutters and village life to Virgil Lancelot Broodhagen’s vendors, show the island’s lifestyles in the more vibrant colours of the Caribbean.

Art is always greater than its image, it is a mystery with a legacy no matter what its form...(Jill McIntyre)

By Ian R Clayton for the Barbados Tourism Encyclopedia

Barbados Craft Tours

 
Fine Artists of Barbados
Company/Surname Name Medium Style
Atkins-Hinds Natalie J. painting, drawing, mixed media landscape, religious, abstract, biographical, self-portraiture
Atkinson Arthur painting, collage, drawing,
mixed media, illustrations, relief
landscape, seascape, urban, still-life, rural, flowers, abstract, portrauture, psychological, political, fugure, mythological, nude, satirical, environmental, conceptual
Atkinson Ewan painting, collage, drawing, photograph, mixed media, printmaking, illustrations, digital biographical, psychological, gender, satirical
Bailey Walter painting, mural, drawing, photograph, mixed media, video, illustrations, sculpture, installation, artists books spiritual, portrauture, nude, race and ethnicity, conceptual
Baldeo Maxie photograph children, urban, still-life, rural, abstract, portrauture, fugure
Belgrave Eric photograph landscape, seascape, spiritual, abstract, fugure
Berger Heidi painting, watercolor, drawing, mixed media children, still-life, flowers, portrauture, fugure
Blades Jean painting, watercolor, drawing landscape, rural, abstract, self-portraiture
Boodhoo Ahmad Rasheed painting, watercolor, drawing, photograph, mixed media, ceramics landscape, seascape, still-life, flowers, abstract, portrauture, nude, environmental, conceptual
Brathwaite Hubert painting, watercolor, textile, drawing, photograph landscape, religious, seascape, urban, biblical, still-life, rural, spiritual, flowers, historical, self-portraiture, political, fugure, environmental, people at work, conceptual
Broodhagen Virgil Lancelot painting, sculpture landscape, seascape, still-life, flowers, portrauture, historical, people at work
Butcher Ras Ishi painting, watercolor, textile, drawing, construction, mixed media, sculpture, installation, ceramics spiritual, abstract, psychological, mythological, race and ethnicity, conceptual
Carrington Ronald Devere photograph, video landscape, children, seascape, urban, rural, portrauture, historical, nude, environmental, people at work
Chandler Christopher R. L. painting, mural, collage, drawing, photograph, mixed media, sculpture, digital seascape, spiritual, psychological, environmental, conceptual
Chapman-Andrews Alison painting, watercolor, collage, drawing, printmaking landscape, rural, abstract, fugure, environmental
Clarke Thomas photograph, digital landscape, children, seascape, urban, rural, fugure, nude
Cummins William St. James drawing, photograph abstract, conceptual
Daniel Jemilene Joyce painting, fibre, watercolor, collage, textile, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, paperworks landscape, abstract, fugure, people at work
Davis Annalee video, installation political, environmental, race and ethnicity
Downey Justin painting, mural, mixed media abstract, biographical, psychological
Field Martin K painting, textile, drawing, photograph, illustrations, digital landscape, children, urban, biblical, still-life, rural, spiritual, abstract, portrauture, historical, psychological, self-portraiture, fugure, gender, environmental, race and ethnicity, conceptual
Gardner Joscelyn E. mixed media, printmaking, video, installation historical, feminism, gender, race and ethnicity, conceptual
Gill Edmund L painting, collage, drawing, mixed media still-life, abstract, historical, conceptual
Grace Bill painting, mural, drawing, construction, photograph, mixed media, illustrations, sculpture, digital, artists books, ceramics seascape, spiritual, abstract, self-portraiture, environmental, conceptual
Greenidge Jeremy photograph, digital landscape, children, religious, seascape, urban, rural, flowers, abstract, portrauture, historical, gender, nude, environmental, people at work, race and ethnicity, conceptual
Hinds Wayne painting, mural, drawing, construction, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture abstract, fugure, nude, conceptual
Kellman Winston Livingstone painting, mural, watercolor, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, illustrations, paperworks, artists' books landscape, seascape, urban, still-life, rural, spiritual, flowers, abstract, biographical, portrauture, historical, self-portraiture, political, fugure, nude, environmental, people at work, conceptual
Kiss Bob photograph landscape, seascape, abstract, portrauture, historical, fugure, nude
Legall Neville painting, watercolor, drawing, photograph landscape, seascape, urban, rural, environmental
Lewis Cheryl Allison painting landscape, seascape, still-life, flowers, people at work
Lewis Ellon painting, watercolor, collage, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, relief, ceramics landscape, seascape, abstract, historical, psychological, political, fugure, mythological, nude, satirical, environmental, race and ethnicity, conceptual
McIntyre McIntyre painting landscape, seascape, still-life, flowers, mythological
Menard-Greenidge Denyse painting, mural, illustrations abstract
Nayar-Gall Indrani printmaking, installation, digital political, race and ethnicity, conceptual
Lilian Sten Lilian Sten painting, collage, textile, mixed media, printmaking landscape, urban, spiritual, abstract, psychological, political, fugure, mythological, satirical, people at work, conceptual
Pilé Simbah painting, mural, watercolor, collage, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, video, illustrations, paperworks, digital, artists' books children, self-portraiture, fugure, mythological, gender
Pilgrim Rosemary painting, drawing, printmaking  
Pounder-Speede Gail Antonia Gracelyn painting, drawing, construction, mixed media, printmaking, installation spiritual, biographical, historical, psychological, self-portraiture, feminism, conceptual
Rose Sheena mixed media, digital urban, conceptual
Rudder Ann painting, collage, textile, mixed media religious, spiritual, biographical, historical, mythological, race and ethnicity
Scott Corrie painting, watercolor, drawing, photograph, mixed media, digital children, seascape, flowers, abstract, historical, psychological, nude, people at work, race and ethnicity
Skinner David F painting, textile, drawing, printmaking, illustrations, sculpture landscape, children, seascape, still-life, abstract, portrauture, self-portraiture, fugure, nude, people at work
Small Don Junior painting, mural, drawing, printmaking, sculpture landscape, seascape, political
Spieler Goldie watercolor, drawing, ceramics landscape, still-life
St.Hill Arlette painting, collage, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, digital religious, spiritual, historical, political, feminism, conceptual
Stewart Omowale painting, mural, drawing, mixed media, illustrations landscape, children, portrauture, historical, political, fugure, nude, people at work, race and ethnicity, conceptual\
Talma Norma Elaine collage, drawing, printmaking spiritual, abstract, biographical, psychological, conceptual
Taylor Leslie photograph, mixed media, digital landscape, urban, still-life, rural, flowers, abstract, self-portraiture, environmental, conceptual
Trotman Darla Marie painting landscape, children, seascape, flowers
Walcott John W. F. painting, mural, drawing, video, illustrations, sculpture landscape, religious, seascape, urban, biblical, rural, spiritual, abstract, historical, political, fugure, nude, satirical, people at work, race and ethnicity
Ward Laura painting, mural, mixed media, sculpture, installation, ceramics landscape, seascape, still-life, spiritual, feminism, fugure, environmental, people at work, conceptual
Watson Roslyn Eugene painting, fibre, collage, textile, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics landscape, seascape, abstract, fugure, environmental
Whittle Nick painting, collage, drawing, construction, photograph, mixed media, printmaking spiritual, biographical, psychological, gender, race and ethnicity
Williams Tracey painting landscape, still-life, flowers, fugure
Yearwood David photograph landscape, seascape, still-life, abstract, fugure, nude
 
 
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