A year in review 2007

A wall painting of the Lion of Judah painted on an abandon wall opened to a littered lot of land, St. James, Trinidad, West Indies.The portrait of the Lion of Judah showed the care and the pureness in the rendering of a subject by the artist. This work has been destroyed - Painting of the year.

Early in the year, a small court yard in Port of Spain became a venue for independent artists. Alice Yard showed the possibility of bringing performers and artists to the public at large.

Radical Designs entered the world of art by giving a pair of jeans to artists to explore the dungaree as art. In March, the results were held at the National Museum which showed literal interpretations.

April brought a great lost to the Art community and to Trinidad and Tobago as the painter Boscoe Holder lost his battle. His paintings automatically increased in value.

In June at the White Columns gallery in New York, the folk artist Embah brought his whimsical paintings and miniature sculptures to an international audience. On his return, Embah looked hip with his classic blue converse sneakers.

Everyone knew it was coming, the closure of Caribbean Contemporary Arts, CCA7 and in August 2007 it was official, the floor of the InterAmerica Space was ripped up. And in its process, the space held its last show which is Exhibition of the year; the wooden planks from the InterAmerican Space dissembled by a layman

In September, a graffiti artist stenciled the Prime Minster of Trinidad and Tobago as Adolf Hitler because of his fascist attitudes. Debate over the ownership of the work reached in one of the National Newspapers. The street Artist of the year, under the alias name Spade

Chris Ofili solo exhibition, Devil's Pie opened in New York at the David Zwirner Gallery. Art goers looked perplexed over his subject matter mostly related to Trinidad and Tobago. The British artist is losing his magic touch or just running out of ideas.

In November, the Jamaican Roberta Stoddart held her solo exhibition at the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, her work explored the ugly and forgotten side of society. Painter of the year.

Old Years at SWWTU

I storming it

This large facade that faces Wrightson Road, Port of Spain is the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU). The tiled and seamless mosaic illustrates a streamliner entering the Port of the Capital. It is one of the most recognized signs of a period when Trinidad and Tobago had great vision for her future.

But in less then 48 hours, just beyond this building, to the SWWTU hall, couples will be dressed up in their best garb to ring in the New Year to 2008. May the nation show compassion towards its people.

Storming a fete : Many years ago, one of the local newspapers captured the backside of a woman skimming over a wall. From the photograph it was clear that this was an important venue to attend. She wore a lovely evening dress with large clog shoes.

Sign your Art

You need to sign your work
It is advice one should take note of, and that is to always sign your Art work. On a wall on the narrow streets of Port of Spain,Trinidad the graffiti tagger, Loose has stenciled a figure of a young child looking upwards the heavens. Yet, a street artist has questioned his absence of ownership.

Dilapidated Nelson Street

This building shows it all, between progress and neglect. In the heart of the Capital, Port of Spain, Trinidad, the dilapidated building is situated on Nelson Street and once had pride as a Bar. The wall signs surrounding the lower structure are painted with great care. From the left to right, Carib, Malta, Coca Cola and Royal Stout.

The signage has stood up over years of neglect.

Benazir Bhutto

May my transition bring calm

Readymade Art II

No other than man can inflict conscious cruelty upon himself

The seventeen century apparatus to the left of you was designed to restrain a human. With its vices, belts and adjustable straps, the chair is a work of art in its precision and function. It reflects the greatest fear in men of man. The device was used as a tool of torture.

Christmas Greetings

Who de fada ?

The birth of the Christ child conceived by the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit of God depicted on a wooden panel. Eastern Main Road, Trinidad, West Indies.

To all readers and to those who celebrate the Christian holiday, a wonderful day to you.

Psychedelic Goa in Trinidad

Until this Sunday at Alice Yard in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, this young man from Goa, Indian has brought a few items to sell. He is catering to the local hippie / rave community with a range of merchandise. From swede bags to leather shoes he has selected artisans and tailors who have been inspired by the psychedelic culture.

He says his efforts are to show Trinidadians that here is more to India than the Indian High Commission or the grand Indian bazaar expo and prices run from 600 dollars for a swede bag to leather slippers under 200 dollars.

What is amusing is what he thinks of the Indian community in Trinidad, and of the oddities with their surnames and not forgetting local Indians who believe they are more Indian that him. Goa is very much like Tobago in its landscape and the state was once under the rule of Portugal.

To the left, Rohanic of The oblique imperative with a psychedelic hand painting that reflects the state of consciousness under mind altering hallucinogenics.

thebookmann headers 1

I am not forgotten - a play on the Trinidad and Tobago's youth.

This painted partition is part of four panels which were used as a backdrop for a theatrical play called, I am not forgotten organized by Restorers Enhancement Group. The organization focuses on the ability and potential of young people from Diego Martin. I am not forgotten was performed at the Central Auditorium in Port of Spain, Trinidad earlier this year by a group of young people ranging from ages 5 to 20 years. They portrayed themselves through monologues, drama, dance and song.

The airbrush artist, Derek Mohammed was commissioned to do this set and he was capable of expressing the range of emotions which are affecting young men in Trinidad and Tobago. I am not forgotten was a venue used to voice their concerns at a time where many young people feel uncertain about their future. The fairly large airbrush paintings shows the passion in its facial expressions. Here is a painted portrait of a young man in the state of Joy, anger, sadness and contentment.

Laughter and grief as part of thebookmann header.


The ticket for I am not forgotten at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Christmas in St. James

Christmas is a season where many people in the Caribbean do their general cleaning. Homes are freshly painted and people like in Trinidad and Tobago get into the mad rush of last minute shopping or stocking up with grog.

And with grog in mind, this bar located in St.James, Trinidad, West Indies is celebrating Christmas by placing a large tree at the front of the property. The owner says its best to come back at night to see it all lit up with lights, but at daylight it has an aesthetic of its own. Constructed from the branches of a coconut tree, the cone shape reaches over twenty feet high.

The wonderful part of Trinidad and Tobago is that its people of all religious backgrounds celebrate the Christian holiday. The owner of this particular bar may be Hindu or Muslin or even Christian himself, yet it is in its recognition thats speaks a truth of brotherhood and union.

Meh wife like meh sweet water

Listen nah I marry twice
The portrait of this older gentle-cold-nuts-man brings a feeling of homesickness to Trinidadians who live elsewhere in the world. He is situated around the Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain and sells his cold nuts from a decrepit van which believably moves.

At the time, a coconut was being cut-open for its jelly. Mr. Saga boy was sweet talking his lady client about the natural healing benefits of his particular water, in its grade of sweetness which his wife could not handle too much fresh water in her system. More foretelling was the way his hacked at the shell with brutal cutlass force.



In certain cultures, the coconut tree is considered as the tree of life because very part of the palm can be used.

Grade of water
Young Coconuts - Sweet, no jelly
Older nuts - Tart, moist jelly

A love drawing

This wall drawing in pencil illustrates the first stages of courting. The artist has attempted to give his interpretation of a couple bonding together. The girlfriend is standing between the lap of her lover with her arms extended across his leg. In the sitting position, her man has his left hand ideally placed on her hip. There is however problems with the angle of the perspective as the left arm of his sweetheart is tangled at the centre of the composition.

The artist has made sure that he is anatomically accurate with her bust which seems to be quite perked to the delight of her partner. She bats her eye in acknowledgment.The illustrator has also signed his work which indicates how proud he is with the incomplete union.

A faint pencil drawings on the streets of St. James, Trinidad, West Indies.

The tourist lathe

Just at the corner of Prince street, Port of Spain, there is a tourist gift shop that sells a number of memorabilia items related to Trinidad and Tobago. From pepper condiments to wood carvings and an artist with an ingenuous skill to the front of the store.

What he is doing is carving the surface of a calabash with a common knife utensil and producing a variety of decorative imagery that makes up the culture of Trinidad and Tobago or the Caribbean.

There is the Hibiscus flower with the Hummingbird, the palm trees at sunset and a panman with his steelband drums. The artist is faster than a lathe as the short video uncovers.

In Caribbean folklore, to drink water from the shell of the calabash may reduce the discomfort of menstruating....the words from the human lathe as he whizzed away at his calabash.

Ofili's Maracas

Here is an fine example how an artist's rendering of a wall painting might be mistaken for a Chris Ofili work or better yet. Aptly timed to represent the percussion instrument because Its Parang in Trinidad.

On a wall, the artist has blended the national colours of red, black and white and drawn what appears to be an Asian warrior in silhouette ready for combat. The small airbrushed white dots on either maracas may be the light reflecting off the surface of the calabash. The Maracas is known as the shac-shac in Trinidad and Tobago.

A wall painting of a shac-shac, Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies

Rastafarian Couture

On the skeleton walls of a building on the outskirts of the capital, Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, a Rastafarian has drawn a Rasta with a keen of Ras style and high couture. The garb may be for a Friday night fete as it looks quite tailored. The suit jacked has shoulder pads and the buttons are placed in line to the hem of the garment. It may be a Ras Chanel in light Caribbean blue or pink.

The well defined features of this groomed Rastafarian indicates his love of Gold. His broad smile shows it as an accessory to his wear. When is undetermined is the black scarf or wrap around his neck.

hallucinogenic eye

On a wall that curves with the pavement in St. James, Trinidad, West Indies, a fresco is mounted depicting many faces within a face. The artist may have been assisted by a hallucinogenic drug such as weed to give his interpretation of a man suffering from multi personalities. The mural looks as if it is a vision of mount Rushmore. And then, there is the horse-sea-serpent as skims to the surface...or is it a camel ? What ever the concept, the artist shows his knack for faces combined with a mixture of concrete and white paint to give the fresco a quality of a relief.

A study on the benefits of cannabis showed that vision could be improved as with the reasoning behind Jamaican fishermen who smoked it to alert a higher sense of their peripheral vision at night.
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This work has been destroyed

Voices from the street III

One people

Unity together

Love your brother

And keep good

Only stay strong


Inscriptions written in stone on an abandon wall, San Fernando, Trinidad, West Indies

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A stencil on a shell of a burnt out building, Woodbrook, Trinidad, W.I

Solo - Vision of the future

The birth of Solo

The Solo softdrink has its beginning in St. James, Trinidad, West Indies and the glass bottle is derived from the Bell X1 flown by the American Charles Yeager in 1947. He was the first man to exceed the speed of sound.

The serving tray above is a promotional memorabilia from Joseph Charles Bottling Works which took great pride with its product. Fat boy as it is known is still available in Trinidad in small shops in rural areas. Other classic softdrinks were, Jucy and Canning

No Obscene Languge

In most Bars across Trinidad and Tobago, yet the rule is often broken by their customers.

In the study of etymology, the word Fock is a Swedish dialect meaning (Totee) which means penis in Trinidad and Tobago. The origins of Fuck is derived from the Germanic language.

Meiling - A tribute

No couture in design

The Publisher Robert & Christopher have released their second coffee table book relating to women artists and artisans from Trinidad and Tobago. This time, it is Meiling whose body of work is printed between the leaves of a 140 page book.

It is unclear how the publishers wished to represent the fashion designer as the format is too simplistic to show the strengths of her range. It would have been apt to have published a special edition magazine as the reproductions lack any sense of high couture for a book in its class.

Meiling's detail in her clothes are not explored, but rather the shoots from her collection that fill in the gaps. Nevertheless, it is an important document in archiving the much respected Trinidadian fashion designer. See their first book

A draftsman's dream

Where to plant de apple tree Mr. Prime Minster?

The artist behind this masterpiece has taken his cue from Frank O. Gehry to match his design of the Guggenheim museum in Spain. This version is the schematic painting of a house to be built or which already has on the streets of Port of Spain.

The draftsman has taken his time to ensure that the calculations of the building is precise at every angle. However, there is a steep incline to the car port. The artist may be incapable of finding the infinity point where his perspective has been skewed, but it is his patients with the outlines that brings the very best of his penmanship.

It should be noted that the aesthetics in architecture in Trinidad and Tobago has shifted to accommodate the trends in homes designed for colder climates. The finest example may be the new residence to the Prime Minster in its garishness and taste that lacks anything other than Caribbean. It a sample where architects foresee profit over the aesthetics of a place, and where owners are inadequate in their identity.

A wall painting for a hardware store, Barataria, Trinidad, W. I

Sam's Mystical Racing Service

This is Sam's Racing Service, located at Curepe, Trinidad, W.I. What can be said about these thoroughbreds are the animals look as if they are galloping from a mystical racetrack which the artist has painted with much zeal.

All bets are that horse # 2 will win the race as she begins to floats over the guardrail. Yet, it is a work that has an sweet affectionateness in its visual adaptation.

A wall painting on board, Curepe, Trinidad, W.I.

Lion House - Interpretation

As a child, where I read
On a street wall in Chaguanas Trinidad, students from the Saraswati Hundi Girls school have painted the Lion House to the best of their ability. The building is an historic site to the indenture Indians in Trinidad and Tobago.

Build by hand by Pundit Capildeo in 1924, and completed two years later, Pundit Capildeo is the grandfather to the British writer, V.S. Naipaul. The author has characterized the building in his book, A house Mr.Biswas. (1962) The archways and pillars that support the upper floor may have been borrowed from seeing the work of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico.

V.S. Naipaul is considered the greatest writer towards the latter part of the Twentieth Century. His command for the English language, and nuances of it use shows a skill that reminds us that simplicity and correct usage of a word can transport the reader to the writer's place of thought.

A wall painting of the Lion House, in Chaguanas Trinidad,

Cakes For All Occasions.

On this painted sign for the Daily Bread Bakery, it says; For the best, Hops.Bread.Cakes.Pastries.Bakes. Pizzas.Pies and then ends with For All Occasions. What does that mean?

The artists has rendered three delicious three delicious culinary desserts which are a sugar coated donut, a sliced loaf of bread and a large cake that seemed to be baked from a Jell-O mold. There is something usually how ungainly the cake sits.

A Bakery sign of the Eastern Main Road,Trinidad, W.I

Pure Elegance - Patti LaBelle

If you asked when this wall painting of a beauty salon was painted, you'll think the 1980s or early 90s. If you asked who most likely does the painting of the woman portrayed, one would think of the American soul singer, Patti LaBelle.

Who knows, Pure Elegance may not exists but the work of the artist has sustained many years of weathering on a wall on the Eastern Main Road, Trinidad, West Indies. Yet her pose and her nails still retains its elegance.

To all the virgin martyrs - Saint Agnes

Since the fourth century, Saint. Agnes has been regarded a martyr in the purest sense through Christian beliefs. She endured a fate where she was tortured and decapitated by a sword to protect her virginity. She was canonized in 1950.

Here in Saint James, Trinidad, West Indies, an artist has a deep devotion to her. A fable of her martyrdom is re-erected in a pictorial that seems set much later or just confused by the accuracy surrounding her time. Hence, the virgin, the halo as yellow paint skirting her cloaked head, her long hair, the lamb, the sword, the meadow and of cause, the brightly painted red picket fence.

According to the notes of Leonardo Da Vinci, he found that humility was the most striking by example of the lamb which will submit to any animal; and when they are given for food to imprisoned lions they were as gentle to them as to their own mother, so that very often it has been seen that the lions forbear to kill them. We in Trinidad and Tobago prefer lamb to be curried.

Saint Agnes, airbrushed on the entrance of Saint Agnes Church, St. James, Trinidad, W. I.

The passing of Lord Kitchener,s Rainorama

Is sweat-rice make he so...

This is Rain-O-Rama, a property once occupied by the family of calypsonian Lord Kitchener, Aldwyn 'Roberts to which he bequeathed to someone else other than his wife and children. Since his death in 2000, a battle has ensued for ownership of the property.

Rain-O-Rama is a landmark in the area of Diego Martin, Trinidad, West Indies and the ongoing dispute has raised the question of preserving the founders of the island's irreplaceable culture such as this. It is only the people of Trinidad and Tobago who are responsible to uphold.

The lyrics to the benefactor of Lord Kitchener - Mark his words
Sweat-rice - An incantation which woman use to induce pheromones. It is a form of local voodoo or obeah in the Caribbean.

SUGAR BUM BUM

Audrey, where you get that sugar
Darling there is nothing sweeter
You make me scream, you make me bawl You make me feel like ten foot tall
Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum , Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum, Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum

Audrey, every time you wiggle
Darling, yo u put me in trouble
You torture me, the way you wine I love to see your fat behind
Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum , Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum, Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum

Darling, I don't want to lose you Honey, like you give me voodoo Give way me land, give way me car But let no man touch my sugar Sugar bum, sugar bum-bum

Why wonder of the world you ask?

wonder of the world plant- Bryophyllum pinnatum

If readers have noticed thebookmann shift to the title, wonder of the world, the reasoning is its resilience which the plant's name is derived from. It can survive anywhere without not much to sustain it.

Bryophyllum pinnatum plant, Life Plant, Miracle Leaf, Goethe Plant

The writer Johann von Goethe was an adamant lover of this plant and studies its mysterious reproducing properties. Every West Indian child should remember putting a leaf between the pages of their copybook. Overtime, the plant would begin to spring roots from the sides of the leaf. Known in Trinidad and Tobago as the wonder of the world, one of the many medicinal properties it contains is the power to strengthen the heart by purifying the blood or to reduce a swelling by using as a poultice over the skin.

Lost dreams to family obligations

She says it with great sadness that her true calling was to paint. Then, obligation stepped in a put a stop to it. Yet, in this quaint bar near Chaguanas, Trinidad, West Indies, two oils paintings are part of the All Fours rooms # 3 and # 2 respectively. They show a Trinidad that once was with the depictions of cattle and Tapia houses set over fifty years ago. The artist is unknown but he was once part of bar’s beginning.

That was then, this is now, and with the family obligation to carry on the bar, to served the regular drunks and combat the bandits at night, she allows a small part of her dream. Behind the heavy curtains and towards the wall, two dusty scenic landscapes are painted of a place that seems quite foreign, but rendered in a childlike matter.

A proprietor of a bar in Chaguanas, Trinidad, West Indies. To the left, the bar’s regular customers having a drink, bright and early on a Sunday. Oils, painted on wood.

Tapia is a mud dwelling with a thatched roof

Voices from the street II

It may be possible should one sleep with D'adversary Lucifer " Devil" that his off spring should emerge. Company of players, Circle of perpetrators

inscriptions on the Woodford Square blackboard, Port of Spain, Trinidad W.I.

Voices from the street

Education is Master, remember in the game you choose to play. The creator is the Captain. The player and the prize, Giver. Only fools have no education. There are no fools in Heaven. LOVE PEOPLE AND PRAISE THE GOD - I AM.

inscriptions on a public shelter partition, San Fernando, Trinidad W.I.

Rosella - Jamaican Sorrel

May I have five pounds of your Hibiscus sabdariffa....Eh meh what?


It is a beverage drink that is ingrained in Trinidad and Tobago at Christmas time. Tanti would have some chilling in her icebox. It is a family of the hibiscus scrub and the edible part of the calyx is used to make the drink.

The floral leafs are boiled and seeped, The syrup is then flavored with ginger and sugar. Sorrel is an ideal drink to served during the holidays, it has the benefit of lowering high blood pressure when dealing with family gatherings.

The Great Sphinx at Beetham

An Androsphinx in concrete

For those tens of thousands of commuters who use the Beetham highway, a royal sculpture derived from Egypt is displayed off to the side at Beetham, Port of Spain. This is a modern and smaller version of the Great Sphinx which is a lion with the face of a man. (Androsphinx) Scholars believe that the face of the Great Sphinx may be that of pharaoh Khafra. But here, on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, West Indies, the sculptor’s work is faceless, yet there is a large amount of pride with the mounted Sphinx. A bed of lavender lilies are placed to the front of it.

Lost in the world of Art - Mark Wallinger

The clip of the video above is a shorter version of Mark Wallinger's work. He is the winner of the Turner Prize for 2007. What can be induced is that the artist has some concern over the over population of humans, which includes himself. The Bear portrayed in costume is somewhat lost in the world of man. A concept that questions the purpose of Art, if there is any the need for it. Only you can decide from these two enactments of the massive omnivorous mammal.

Below - Traditional Carnival characters of a dancing Bear from Trinidad and Tobago. Please note the manner in which the masquerader skims across the ground.

Embah's conversation in spelling

At the studio, a centre run by artists in building 7, once known as CCA7, Embah is about to leave for the Parish Artists in Residence exhibition which includes his work along with Willie Chen, Jackie Hinkson, Eddie bowen and Sundiata among others. The church, St. Peter's is commemorating its 320 year anniversary. The building is situated on the cress of a hill in Pointe a Pierre, Trinidad, West Indies.

In June, Embah had a successful exhibition at the White Columns gallery in New York and his studio is bustling with old and new work. Embah's conversation is about Trinidad's identity as a pot of pelau with its races, and of spelling, a problem he sees (seas) with the island's youth.

Whe de asse...whe de mas? - Ashraph

A Carnival Art Band

Richard Ramsaran (Ashraph) has been working on a show that is related to the state of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. This is his band launch set for the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago in February 2008. Mr. Ramsaran has approached the subject with a panache we can call totally kitsch with puns on contemporary carnival designers. He has used materials such as paper, wire, beads, feathers and glitter purchased from the King of Carnival suppler, Samaroos in Port of Spain, not China to produce the miniature costumes. All of his work are for sale, in many sections of cause. Ashraph has also casted in Papier-mâché the shape of an urn, and it acts as the body for his blue devils. His small kraft Paper bags are covered with glitter and layered with colours are his exclusive mas pieces that are not cheap, and they are also all inclusive with special dainties for the buyer.

Ashraph has played with the concept of deconstruction, and the fluidity of movement made from Papier-mâché plates to describe the traditional Carnival characters such as Bat and Fancy sailor dance. He has clearly streamlined his pieces which the nuances represent an informal take on the characters. A Jab Jab to him could be a simply mesh wire enclosed by a feather boa, with the shape of a heart at the centre. To add to the piece, small bells are attached.

An exhibition of recent works, Whe de asse...whe de mas- Richard Ramsaran proposed for the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies. Please note the dates are not officially confirmed.

Alchemy 2007

In 2 Art is a new art gallery in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies and the space is divided into two parts. Framing and the an exhibition area. For two days only, the the works by two local jewellers, Barbara Jardine and Rachel Ross have their commercial Alchemy line in a show entitled, I am dreaming.

Joy - Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan is an artist who works with the very idea of mythology and the Caribbean. She is inspired by the very aspects of the things in nature, and hers echoes a voice of poetry with precious metals and stones.

Ms. Girvan is a metalsmith with a great care for the intricacies in detail. Her objects are whimsical in the play of life, and owning such a individual work can bring a joy which will last a lifetime.

Joy is a series of open house shows which Ms. Girvan has scheduled for 2007- 2008. The Studio, Fernandes Industrial Centre Industrial, Trinidad, West Indies. Open house; The Art of Jewelry, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan till December 3rd, 2007. inquires regarding her work or open hours

Tracy Emin - The Golden spoon of Art

The Golden Spoon of Art

The British conceptual artist, Tracy Emin, is an ordinary girl who caught the eye of an Art Collector. It is ten years since her installation, My Bed which caused much debate over the quality and content of British contemporary art. Shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1999, Ms. Emin's installation was constructed from her personal belongings which included an untidy mattress with a few effects piled on a blue rug. She left no mark untouched as the bedsheets was stained with her own body secretions.

Placed at the Tate, for all to grok and consider over her personal life whether it was appropriate, she had the courage to show that the aspects of an artist's personal life could be viewed as art in itself; She is female therefore she menstruates; She has a boyfriend, so she fucks; She like drinking and so forth and finally she keeps a messy room. One wonders, if this had been a photographic installation by Nan Goldin being beaten up if any debate surrounding the content would have been questioned.

Ms. Emin's hardest critic is herself as she among other artists in her rank find themselves in a place where they somehow need to top themselves. But she also must be true to her callings, and question the reasoning behind her work. To be casual about it may damage its credibility. Yet, the greatest aspect to her is the fertile environment which she has to produce work, to explore other areas less demanding to public scrutiny and more fulfilling to her heart.

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I was reading a letter from a friend about a topic that I discussed here on sexypink the other day. He was really upset about the work of Tracy Emin, his gripe was about taste and intention, purpose and shock value. A whole bunch of International names were thrown about, Gilbert and George, Chris Ofili and Kara Walker, to name a few.

Today I thought about an observation I have made about film. The Postman always Rings Twice was remade in the late nineteen eighties. I saw the remake before the original.Where to me, the Lana Turner version, was much more moving than the perceived, sexy, modern interpretation. That was one of the films that drew my attention to what films today bring to the genre.

Sometimes it is easy to think that all modern movies do is add sex and violence and tonnes of special effects. This is the belief that the movie industry has about what we, the public want to see. Are Artists in some way apeing this form of entertainment?

Let us just look at random of some of the Art offerings that I have seen on the Internet and up close for 2005/7. Actual dead bodies willed to science posed in a gallery space for viewing. This included a boy on a skateboard. Colourful murals of Anime-like characters half naked in a stylised forest with mist and running waters. A fox, taxidermied and repeated thousands of times to look as though it were a swarm of foxes within a gallery space and the larger than life sculpture of a woman in bed, caught looking vacantly into space.

Artists want to test themselves. Test what they can do, try things they haven’t seen before. Is it safe to say that they cannot help but be guided by their times? If Picasso were alive today, wouldn’t he be doing things like Jeff Koons? Perhaps when we look at Art, we should remember that there is a part of work, by its very presence, away from a studio space, that is an element of showmanship. Art is a verb, an activity that you respond to.

I started the entry with the words testicular fortitude. That was one of the things my friend talked about, the shock value. Tracy Emin’s work may not be liked by anyone. But it is her work, and she is moved by her times to create those things, and history shall determine her place, as she has managed to draw attention to what she does, and that in itself is no small thing.

The question we remain with is how and why? - Adele

Art - Who has to right to see it

These are the antics people do to cause some controversy and attention, or is it what goes around comes around?

It looked as if it was taken from a movie scene. In October, masked men stormed into the Kulturen Gallery in Skåne, Sweden and took a crow bar and axe to the large Ilfochrome works by the American photographer, Andres Serrano. In 90 seconds, it was all over, and what was left had the potential to be art in itself. In the rampage of the morality of taste, the photographs were scarred, scattered on the floor of the gallery or completely destroyed. It was by all means an unconventional installation piece.

But what incensed these thugs? What had them so outraged to give their forthright view on morals of Art? The show, A history of sex, was an exhibition that dealt with the perversive aspects that surround sex. Mr. Serrano's photographs may have very well been provocative, as he toyed with the idea within the spectrum of the unseen acts which people do engage sexually. To push the boundaries of what humans find pleasurable certainly wilded up these bandits as they hacked and gored at the parts of the photographs which exposed the genitals in some sort of physical contact.

At one point, the camera focused on a photograph of a white man giving fellatio to a upright black man and the attacker repeated hacked at the man's penis yet seemed less agitated with kneeling man. It made you wonder at the degree of racism at a time people should be less ignorant. Out of hate, envy and disgust, they neglected to allow individuals the right to express themselves, and further, it boosted the artist's career by the defiled act. His works are now more infallible. People will be curious to see which are the works that caused such repulsion.

In general, Mr Serrano photographs emanate an appeal from the Renaissance in the way light falls on the his subjects in the art of chiaroscuro. They look as if they were photographed outside at night. But they are stark cold with the undertones of grounded catholicism. Yet, not as clever as Pierre et Gilles or as warm and sensual as with Robert Mapplethorpe.

Mr. Serrano is not new to controversy regarding his work, in 1989, he used his own urine as a patina for the work entitled the Piss Christ. It raised the debate over public fundings and artistic freedoms in United States. So the age old question bubbles to the surface from both sides of the coin. Who decides in Art, what we can see?

Video stills from a Swedish Nationalist group responsible for the destruction of several photographic works in October, 2007, Kulturen Gallery, Sweden. The incident was posted on youtube.

A history of sex - Fotografier av Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano ställer ut sin bildsvit A History of Sex på Kulturen. Den består av 14 porträtt av människor som utför sexuella handlingar.

The History of Sex exhibition continues till December, 2007

The deadly sins in Art

Nothing we make or do can last for eternity

As it is reported, a man climbed over the guardrail of the chapel of the Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica and wheeled a hammer to the Madonna's left arm, it sheared off. He also smashed the nose and left eyelid of the marble sculpture. A work which took a toll of the young Italian sculptor for over two years.

Michelangelo's feat was that he encased both figures as one piece and the marble's grain had to be precise in every aspect so that the Virgin's lap was the center of balance. Here is were her son lay.

Yet, in the frenzy, in the assailant's quest for infamy, his actions proved the power which art possess, that is of its beholden truth, in its self sacrifice, in the blisters and weeping nights. From a block of stone, the form, the expression and weight conceptualized in the mind before Michelangelo wheeled at the marble with his chisel. The man found that by attempting to destroy an irreplaceable masterpiece, it could reflect on the fragility of man, and his man-made objects. In seconds, parts of the sculpture was reduced to dust. Nothing we make or do can last for entity.

The damaged Pietà by Michelangelo, 1499
Marble 68.5 × 76.8 in
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

Left: The 33 year old assailant striking the Pietà, in May of 1972 at the St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

Two lefts confronts genius

The Pan tuner and arranger, Two Lefts, so named because he always had his left hand in his pocket was invited to a pan yard to train some guys and introduce new songs he had composed. He got to the yard a bit early and saw some young men playing basketball not too far from the yard. He waited and waited, then he got a bit impatient and decided to spend his time going through scales and trying out some of what he planned to show his late arrivals.

After more than an hour, the person who invited him to the yard casually showed up. He was naturally incensed by then and said to the guy, “Boy, you have me waiting here for more dan ah hour, boy! Where dees people I suppose to see? ” The guy casually pointed to the basketball players and said that they were there all the time. A bit miffed, Two lefts introduced himself and decided because he was pissed, to ask them what they understood about pan. One of the players took his sticks from him and proceeded to copy precisely all that he had played while they were dribbling the ball on the court. He was so shocked that all he could sheepishly say was, ‘Fine, let’s get right into the song I am here to show all you.” True Story - Adele

Above: A Steelpan arranger airbrushed on the interior wall, located at the Smokey and Bunty bar in St. James, Trinidad, West Indies.

Article courtesy of Point of Departure

Roberta Stoddart - The dark sides of society

The artist Roberta Stoddart is clearly a very strong painter. Her palette for her show as well as the scale of her work recalls the fine portraiture of British Artist, Lucien Freud in its classical sensibilities. She seems to deliberately choose a stark grouping of colour to drive home her messages and keep her focus very sharp.

I find this show very disturbing. The artist looks at beauty within the fringes of society. Yet there is a very harsh aftertaste, and this must be discussed because it is a very tantalizing, confusing and relevant underpinning. She is asking the question, why do we feel uncomfortable and by doing so, she places heads onto insects commonly referred to as vermin, in several small paintings that encourage coming closer to look at the details. Without doubt there is a searching to understand how she relates to the dark sides of society.

A gay friend of mine has spoken with me about feelings of being on the fringes recently. Despite the strides made in his society of Toronto, he has still felt the inability to be what he wants to be and this has left scars on his psyche. He asks the question, why does he have to be mindful of not putting his life out there because he does not want to upset the majority?

In Ms. Stoddart’s work, this is also apparent, but moreso, by her use of ‘black’ people as her
predominant choice here, she does bring to question the idea of the black place in society. The very real, tenuous reality of “these people” as problems. Very much like the challenged adult in society. Someone whom you may acknowledge, but be at pains to associate with. Unless you have to. This may be impolitic to say, but it is the truth of many circumstances where people have difficulty with differences of any kind, difficulties that show up deficiencies in themselves to be tolerant for any length of time.

Is she saying that she feels as alienated as people of colour who are caught between races? What of the insect paintings? Is she looking at this group as many believe them to be? There is a clear wrestling with prejudice. I can skirt the fact that she is a Jamaican, Caucasian artist and say that this has nothing to do with her painting choices. But this would be disingenuous, because hers is a long, difficult struggle of privilege in a predominantly black society. There is no way to discuss this artists works and not feel the growing pangs and delicate balance that is race, class and colour in the islands.

Miss Stoddart also includes an older painting of children and a self portrait in a wedding gown. I have written about the former painting before, but the latter, being a new work and chosen for this show, is a bold statement about marriage. Although she may be dressed in wedding finery, her pose is stiff and doll like. Marriage is certainly more than the day in question. Is she perhaps saying that marriage is not all that it is cracked up to be?

People naturally gravitate towards her work because of the excellent technical skills, but how many really want to look at the gut wrenching questions she employs? I suspect not many, as I have found in the writing I have come across on her works, and I believe that we are poorer for not engaging the questions that Miss Stoddart is trying to articulate through her work.

An exhibition of recent works, In the Flesh - Roberta Stoddart. National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies. 22th November till 8th December, 2007.

Beauty in all living things - Roberta Stoddart.

People in general want the same things, they deserved to be respected and acknowledged. And this is where the conflicts arise in all societies, from injustice to hate, to violence, to war and finally to genocide

At the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, Roberta Stoddart's much anticipated show, In the Flesh opens to a large turnout. Held at the Annex, Ms. Stoddard shows a body of work that deals with the subject of discomfort and unseen social obligations. She includes a portrait of herself in a wedding dress, yet unwed.

By a simple study of a common Roach, she paints to disturb the mind with living things which may repel the viewer because of its parasitical quality. Ms Stoddard, otherwise sees a beauty which she translates onto the canvas in the finest veneer. Here, she captives the notion of Race by replacing the head of the insect with the portrait of a human. It should be noted in the history of Western Art, Michelangelo played on similar puns by painting the faces of clergymen as the gland of the penis. These were a satirical commentary on the ills of religion. With Ms. Stoddard, it is the racial stereotyping she sees.

A clue to her composition, Saints and Sinners 120 x 72 ins, is a place quite recognizable to the Tortuga Roman Catholic Church, which sits at the crest of the Montserrat hills in Gran Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. The composition includes four studies, were Ms. Stoddart is portrayed to the lower right in a posture somewhat bereaved. The unusual perspective tilt is taken from the upper level of the church, where the organ once stood. Her subjects are the freaks of nature who suffer from a skin disfigurement by the absence of pigmentation. What is unique about these studies is that her pallet offers a similar approach in the splotches of colour, as with their skin cancer. The overlaid are precisely layered to give the skin its tonal flake.

For those who have a love for fine art, In the flesh offers a scope to the island's finest painter whose technical range is clearly shown in oils. There is an opportunity to see what portraits should look like, as Ms. Stoddart's strengths are those very aspects in a smaller scale.

An exhibition of recent works - Roberta Stoddart. National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, 22th November till 8th December, 2007. A catalogue accompanied this show which is a retrospective of her work. Enquiries regarding the publication