Author: lisa

Nearly a year has gone since master Bahamian artist, architect and Junkanooer Jackson Burnside has passed away, yet his legacy lives on. In the world of Junkanoo, Jackson received his due in a dazzling tribute on Boxing Day morning last year by One Family – the group he was pivotal in starting and directing.

“As We Knew Him: One Family’s Tribute to Jackson Burnside Boxing Day Parade 2011” opens at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas on Friday, February 3 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and continues for six weeks.

The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB) has appointed John Cox as their new Chief Curator. Cox has been a major part of the Bahamian art scene for the past 20 years and has played a significant role in redefining art in the Bahamas.

Emerging visual artists had the opportunity to showcase their work alongside veteran artist Kendal Hanna at the National Art Gallery’s one night only All-Star Amateur Exhibition.

The artists who vied to participate in the exhibit were asked to create work that reflected Kendal Hanna’s style. They all drew inspiration from Hanna’s retrospective exhibition titled “Happy Birthday To Me”.

As the name suggests, Beadle’s pieces have a connection with nature — the material he utilized for this body of work is nothing more than wood: plywood, jasmine vines and found or salvaged dead wood.

Such a space seems to be a tribute of sorts to the simplicity of nature, for Beadle allowed these pieces to speak for themselves in many ways, only serving to highlight their natural lines — wood grain or rings — with certain deliberate applications of color.

“It’s the end of a beginning of a new chapter” said Kendal as he pondered the words for his speech tonight at the closing of his retrospective exhibition “Happy Birthday to Me”.

It’s a new era for the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB). With a new staff and new director Amanda Coulson at the helm, NAGB will take an exciting step in a new direction – establishing itself as a national institution in the eyes of the globe.

“Culture needs to be a dialogue between nations, and while we should protect our own cultural heritage, it is totally valid to have conversations,” she says. “I would like to see international art coming down here and Bahamians making a splash internationally.”

Friday, January 20 is the last night to catch “Happy Birthday To Me”, the retrospective of master Bahamian abstract impressionist, Kendal Hanna. The show covers his 75 years of life and his artistic career with 143 paintings.

Bahamian Artist and filmmaker Tyler Johnston presented a sculpture to the Governor General. The sculpture had been made by his grandfather – internationally known sculptor Randolph Johnston – in the only bronze casting foundry in the Bahamas.

New Work by John Beadle

Exhibition opens:
Thursday, January 19, 2012
6:00pm – 9:00pm
The Central Bank of the Bahamas Art Gallery