Among Friends
Although best known for his large abstract works, Ebanks was still painting in his semi-figurative style in the mid to late 1990s. Among Friends depicts the Carnival group Mudders, of which Ebanks and his friends were members. Batabano and Carnival are recurring themes in his work, and he has completed several series of paintings inspired by the music, dance and flowing colours of various Carnival troupes.
About the Artist
Al Ebanks
b. 1963
Born in George Town, sculptor and painter Al Ebanks was awarded a scholarship from the Cayman National Cultural Foundation in 1995 to study sculpture with renowned Barbadian artist Karl Broodhagen and later learned bronze casting in Tuscany through the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands’ Artists Away grant programme (2004). Ebanks co-founded the Native Sons artists collective in 1996 and was awarded CNCF’s Artistic Achievement Award in 2001. He has exhibited locally and abroad, including a solo show at the Jackie Gleason Theatre, Miami. His paintings were used on-screen for the feature film Haven (written and directed by Frank E. Flowers; 2004). Ebanks’ work is included in the permanent collections of the Cayman Islands National Museum, NGCI and the Griffin Gallery, Chicago. NGCI exhibitions include the solo exhibition Dancing to Art (2004), and Native Sons’ Fahive (2005), All Access (2015), Native Sons – Twenty Years On (2016), Upon the Seas (2017), Mediating Self (2017), Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019), Island of Women: Life at Home During our Maritime Years (2020), Reimagined Futures: 2nd Cayman Islands Biennial (2021), and The People’s Collection: A 25-Year Cultural Legacy (2022).
