National Gallery’s first ever biennial launches
Caymanian Times
It was a full house at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands last Friday evening at the launch of the brand-new Cross Currents exhibition, a collection of works by artists from across the islands, earmarking the Gallery’s first ever biennial exhibition.
The exhibition was the result of an open call for participation in this first biennial exhibition by the Gallery, resulting in 71 pieces from local artists being submitted who created a wide selection of artwork in a multitude of genres, from traditional paintings to sculpture, collage, photography, installation, video, performance art and even a recreation of the Sistine Chapel and its famous frescos.
Each of the artists were asked to respond in their own way to the question “what is contemporary Caymanian art?” Featured artists for the first iteration of the Biennial include: Jawara Alleyne, Shane Aquart, John Bird, Cameron Bridgeman, David Bridgeman, John Broad, Randy Chollette, Julie Corsetti, Alan Darvill, Frans De Backer, Bryony Dixon, Al Ebanks, Davin Ebanks, Kaitlyn Elphinstone, Kathryn Elphinstone, Horacio Esteban, Jamie Hahn, Tessa Hansen, Suvi Hayden, Bendel Hydes, Tyra Iton, Paige Jordison, Jason Kennedy, Marc Laurenson, Maureen Lazarus, Chris Mann, Rory Mann, Sarah McDougall, Claire Musser, Pascal Pernix, Pippa Ridley, Brandon Saunders, Renate Seffer, Gordon Solomon, Nasaria Suckoo Chollette, Scott Swing, Marianna Szekley, Jeremy Walton, Avril Ward and Marcie Wood.
National Gallery Director and Chief Curator Natalie Urquhart said the event created an exciting new platform for contemporary art in the Cayman Islands. “In launching this Biennial, the National Gallery seeks to encourage artists to challenge the boundaries of art and to critically engage with their surroundings. Every other year, NGCI will, through this recurring exhibition, endeavour to showcase the high-calibre of work currently practiced in the Cayman Islands and recognise the very best of Cayman’s artistic talent through a competitive awards process,” she explained.
As well as featuring in the Biennial, the artists were also competing for an award, named the Bendel Hydes Award, in honour of Caymanian artist Bendel Hydes in recognition of his distinguished 45-year career. This award will be presented to the artist whose work a jury of local art specialists considers the most accomplished in this year’s exhibition in terms of technical and conceptual strength, and originality. The prize is $5,000 and an opportunity to develop a solo exhibition at the Gallery. In addition, there will be an Emerging Artist Award presented to an artist under 30, which will provide them with a developmental grant towards a residency programme or related training. The panel of judges will be examining all the artwork over the next few weeks to make their final judgement in these two prestigious awards.
“These awards have both been developed to provide much needed grant support for artists at both the established and emerging level,” Natalie said. “We hope to see it inspire more such opportunities moving forward.”
For a brilliant insight into the creative minds of some of Cayman’s most accomplished contemporary artists, this exhibition is well worth a view. Cross Currents runs until 4th May, 2019.