81° West

This exhibition explores the connection between art and the field of mapping, the history of which stretches from ancient times to the present day. As a discipline rooted in scientific inquiry with wide-reaching social, political, and philosophical implications, cartography embodies a unique form of image making whose empirical objectives are seemingly far removed from the aesthetic priorities of fine art. Yet the similarities that unite these two material universes reveal the ways in which the cartographic and artistic realms delineate a common space of pictorial representation.

Much like the cartographer who surveys the blank spaces of uncharted territory, the artist can be seen to embark upon a similar journey—evocatively transcribing the world around them in all its complexity and myriad detail. Taking this analogy as the departure point for the exhibition’s interpretive framework, 81 Degrees West examines the work of a select group of Caymanian artists who utilise the iconography of maps and their material traces as the basis for creative exploration.

Presenting antique and contemporary depictions of the Cayman Islands and the wider Caribbean alongside artworks that respond to, or engage with, this evolving body of images, this exhibition further highlights the imaginative potential inherent within such illustrative imagery. From the incorporation of cartographic fragments to the creation of fantastical works influenced by this material landscape, the featured artists demonstrate cartography’s enduring capacity to captivate and inspire—summoning in the process a universal language of visual expression.