‘Master Artists of The Bahamas’

On its final leg, the traveling exhibition “Master Artists of The Bahamas” – which has been shown at the Waterloo Center for the Arts in Iowa and the Museum of Fine Arts in Tallahassee, Florida – comes home to The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas.

Instigated by the Waterloo Center for the Arts (WCA) and filmmaker Karen Arthur – whose many films include “Brent Malone: Father of Bahamian Art” and “Amos Ferguson: Match Me if You Can”, among others – this project was initially conceived to raise the profile of Bahamian art in the United States and bring the work of Bahamian artists to new audiences.

Filmmaker Arthur, with her partner Thomas Neuwirth, had finished the Island Films production “Artists of The Bahamas” and this inspired the Iowan curators – Cammie Scully and Kent Shankle – to stage the show, focusing on the artists featured in the film.

Alongside the WCA’s own stunning collection of over 65 Amos Fergusons, the beginning of their fascination with Bahamian art, they gathered work by the other artists – John Beadle, Jackson Burnside, Stan Burnside, John Cox, Kendal Hanna, Brent Malone, Eddie Minnis, Antonius Roberts, Dave Smith and Max Taylor – to form a stellar show, which has been re-curated here in Nassau to include some entirely new works.

“Tailored for the local audience, while still appealing to international visitors, the show is re-installed in such a way as to extrapolate new meanings and connections between the works and is an outstanding testament to our Bahamian art and culture,” says Coulson.

On view, among other works, will be the last ever paintings of the beloved Jackson Burnside, as well as new works from his brother Stan Burnside’s most recent show, which opened on Valentine’s Day, (Jackson’s birthday), works that grapple with issues of love and loss.

During the run of show, all of Island Films’ library will be screened, free of charge, including the latest in the series “Jackson Burnside III: Native Son” on Saturday, April 27 at 6 p.m. in the presence of the film’s director.

Taken from an article by Erica Wells
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