Pascale Monnin - Chuchotements, 2014, collection: the Artist This commentary, on the recently closed Vives Exhibition, was first published in the Jamaica Monitor of January 30, 2022. During my stay here in Haiti, I have had the opportunity to share a house, and to work and exchange thoughts with two highly accomplished women in the... Continue Reading →
Bewigged – Greg Bailey’s Post-colonial Paraphernalia
Greg Bailey - Lady Locks (2021) I am privileged to have been invited to curate the debut solo exhibition of the Jamaican artist Greg Bailey is entitled Post-Colonial Paraphernalia. The exhibition explores the lingering effects of colonial symbols and and features ten new oil paintings and one drawing. The exhibition is on view at Creativ... Continue Reading →
Review: And I Resumed the Struggle
Greg Bailey – Mushroom Clouds (2020), oil on canvas, 71 x 88” (photo: Veerle Poupeye) This article was originally published in the Jamaica Monitor of May 23, 2021. More images have been added. On December 10, 2020, I attended an exhibition opening, my first since our first Covid-19 lockdown started. The occasion was And I... Continue Reading →
“Jamaica, Jamaica,” or, the Problem of “Good Enough”
In 2017, I had the opportunity to travel to Paris for the opening of Jamaica, Jamaica, a major exhibition on Jamaican music curated by the French music journalist Sebastien Carayol for the Philharmonie de Paris/Cité de la Musique. I did so in my capacity as the then Executive Director of the National Gallery of Jamaica... Continue Reading →
Parochialism or Inclusiveness? The Inaugural NGJ Summer Exhibition – Part I
This is the first of a two-part post on the National Gallery of Jamaica Summer Exhibition. Part 2, which takes a closer look at the exhibition itself, can be found here. Having worked in curatorial positions in a museum context, at the National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ), for the better part of my thirty-five years... Continue Reading →
Field Notes # 1: How to Prepare for Juried Art Exhibitions
Over the 35 years I have lived in Jamaica, I have been the lead curator of more than 45 exhibitions and I have been involved in many others, as a juror, as a supervisor or mentor of other curators, as curatorial and organizational support staff, as a contributing writer, and also as an observer and... Continue Reading →