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The Mark of a Woman: Portraits of black womanhood in the work of Gabrielle Banks.

26 June 2017 Articles

By Natalie Willis. Reclining nudes, women posed ‘just so,’ we’re all quite accustomed to this kind of figuration and portraiture in the art world. Even those of us who are just dipping our toes into the wonders of the art world associate art with this kind of imagery. Art students at universities the world over can be found squinting in deepest concentration, poring over their depictions of a nude model before them – often a woman – and trying to figure out form, perspective, how to capture the ‘essence’ of this stranger they’ve met. It’s part of the canon, in many ways.

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From the Collection: Michael Edwards’ “Untitled II”

20 June 2017 Articles

By Natascha Vazquez.  The interpretation of abstract art entails an inventiveness that allows you to discover for yourself the meaning behind the work. It’s an organic process, it has no equation or set of rules – the art presents itself and you are left with little information to process it. For many, this is unsettling. As humans, we yearn for understanding – we desire clear, detailed instruction. Abstract art provides none of that. Revolutionary colour field painter Mark Rothko says, “Art that truly engages us is felt even when you have turned your back on it.” There’s something really special about that – about feeling the sensation of a work beyond its physicality. It’s when you can feel the strength of the painting from across the room. You can stand in the space the artist once occupied and imagine him or her in that same spot, debating over the next smear of black or red pour or blue dot. Similarly, Jerry Saltz says, “Abstraction disenchants, re-enchants, detoxifies, destabilises, resists closure, slows perception, and increases our grasp of the world.”

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Balancing Act: Heino Schmid’s “Temporary Horizon” (2010)

19 June 2017 Articles

By Natalie Willis.Heino Schmid’s practice can perhaps be described as slippery or amphibious – and it’s not so much to do with the water, as it is to do with his fluidity in dealing with the bounds of what we believe to constitute drawing, sculpture, painting as separate genres – the proverbial lines in his practice become blurred. This movement between the medium and the means is why “Temporary Horizon” (2010)  was chosen for the current Permanent Exhibition, “Revisiting An Eye For the Tropics” on display at the NAGB.

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Lamare’s Frame Building Workshop brings a crowd: Hands on experience at the NAGB

13 June 2017 Highlights

By Katrina Cartwright.  As a part of his retrospective “Love, Loss and Life,” artist Thierry Lamare hosted a frame-building workshop at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB) on May 20, 2017. In just over three hours, he generously shared techniques that he has used to build driftwood frames for his paintings over the years. More than thirteen people from diverse backgrounds and varying degrees of experience were in attendance. Artists, art enthusiasts, craftspersons and a few do-it-yourselfers came seeking to acquire a new skill, build on existing knowledge or satisfy their curiosity.

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From The Collection: “A Native Sugar Mill” (ca. 1901) by William Henry Jackson

12 June 2017 Articles

By Natalie Willis. “A Native Sugar Mill” (ca. 1901) by William Henry Jackson is part of the suite of historic colonial photographs in the National Collection. Jackson was an American, who started a photo studio here after emigrating from New York in the 1870s and is one of the small group of colonial migrants whose pictures help us piece together part of the story of the time. According to the catalogue for “Bahamian Visions: Photographs 1870 – 1920,” curated by Krista Thompson, Jackson first came to The Bahamas at the request of the Governor of the time, Sir William Robinson, in 1877. Since around 1856, Jackson worked as a landscape painter, colourist of photographs and also owned a studio specialising in Daguerreotype photographs. In addition, he manufactured albumenized paper, managed a stereoscopic printing shop and had even worked as a Civil War photographer. Many of these things seem very far removed from us now, but they were staples of photography at the time.

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Blank Canvas with Tyrone Ferguson

8 June 2017 Podcasts

Joining Amanda in the studio tonight is one of The Bahamas’ foremost artists: Mr. Tyrone Ferguson. An expert in metalwork, Tyrone speaks to his discovery of his talent as a blacksmith and the young age of 14, his training and his calling. The NAGB is extremely proud to announce that the Board has sanctioned the commissioning of a monumental  set of gates for the poverty on West Hill Street; the Gates Commission is currently underway and will be unveiled at the end of June. 

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NAGB Mural Call: Tellin’ We Story

31 May 2017 Opportunities

The MMSAC is looking or two artists to conceive a mural on public and NAGB walls along with MMSAC campers. Not only will you make amazing art, you will facilitate an amazing experience for young Bahamians. The theme is ‘Tellin’ We Story: Narrating National Identity”. For more information, contact Community Outreach Officer and Camp Coordinator Abby Smith here. 

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Cultural Development and Investment: The Recognition of Our Cultural Heritage

31 May 2017 Articles

Cultural heritage, shockingly, is actually not unique to or owned by a people unless it is inscribed as such. So, as a nation, we think we are the sole practitioners of Junkanoo the way we perform it on Boxing Day morning and New Year’s Day morning, however, this unique cultural relationship does not endow us, The Bahamas or the Bahamian people with the right to use Junkanoo as we wish. We do not own the practice nor do we benefit from it, despite the fact that whenever we are invited as a country to an arts or culture festival we tend to drag an entire Junkanoo group with us. The nation and the state have been historically irresponsible when it comes to officially claiming and so protecting our cultural heritage.

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