Unseen Structure

By in News on April 26, 2017

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).

The NAGB 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.

Caption (image at top): A detail of work entitled ‘The Shelter of a Man’. This piece pays tribute to my fathers grace and dedication to his family, his colleagues and his community. The support from underneath represented by the cantilever, and the protection and mentorship represented by the umbrellas – each symbolizing a particular faction of his work. (- John Cox)

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