The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) is pleased to present to the viewing public 40 Years of Bahamian Art, an exhibition that offers an overview of the development of art in The Bahamas from 1973, the year of Bahamian Independence, to the present. With the rapid and continuous evolution of what it means to “be Bahamian” it comes as no surprise that the visual arts have become a critical artery for cultural expression. This exhibition is a timely one as a vast number of Bahamians, more particularly creative individuals, now embrace opportunities for discourse about nationality and even further to that, the barometer of “Caribbean-ness” and regional identity. If the NAGB’s Inaugural Exhibition in 2003 opened a discussion about who we are and where we are going, then it can be said that 40 Years of Bahamian Art is an examination of national self-actualization and our journey thus far.

The NAGB curatorial staff has aimed to reveal this journey through several viewpoints that are inclusive of a broad range of male and female artists and media. Due to our spatial constraints, this list is by no means exhaustive and many of this nation’s most distinguished practicing artists are sadly not represented. This is also due to the fact that much of the ground floor spaces of this show are dedicated to drawing upon the NAGB’s National Collection, which is limited to what the institution has been able to collect so far due to the kindness of supporters and patrons.

The artists exhibited represent an array of mediums and disciplines over a forty-year span that reaches into the five decades represented from the early 70s through the early 2010s. Mediums presented are painting, works on paper, collage & mixed media assemblage, ceramics, sculpture, film, textiles and photography. There are well-known and newer names represented in hopes to inspire and perhaps surprise the viewer with this unique and eclectic collection of Bahamian art. The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) is pleased to present to the viewing public 40 Years of Bahamian Art, an exhibition that offers an overview of the development of art in The Bahamas from 1973, the year of Bahamian Independence, to the present.

With the rapid and continuous evolution of what it means to “be Bahamian” it comes as no surprise that the visual arts have become a critical artery for cultural expression. This exhibition is a timely one as a vast number of Bahamians, more particularly creative individuals, now embrace opportunities for discourse about nationality and even further to that, the barometer of “Caribbean-ness” and regional identity. If the NAGB’s Inaugural Exhibition in 2003 opened a discussion about who we are and where we are going, then it can be said that 40 Years of Bahamian Art is an examination of national self-actualization and our journey thus far. Sonia Isaacs, Harbour Village, 2006. Rolfe Harris, Untitled (Boats at Sea), c. 1980.

Through this collection, we hope to convey the vital aspects of Bahamian art. If anything, this body of work reveals that the visual narrative exists not only in the picturesque and romantic, but also on planes both above and beneath the tropical lenses through which Bahamian art has been perceived in the past.