Cayman: An Ever-Changing Landscape

Drawing from the collections of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, The Cayman Islands National Museum, and the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, Cayman: An Ever-changing Landscape assembled rarely seen and significant artworks from the early 1970s to the mid-2000s, offering an unparalleled opportunity for audiences to experience the rich holdings of Cayman’s major cultural institutions displayed for the first time, side by side. Celebrating four decades of painting, the exhibition focused on Caymanian artists’ shifting responses and creative interpretations of the local landscape, reflecting the visible and intangible effects of rapid urban development and globalisation.

From the early works of realist painters, who sought to capture the idyllic aspects of “the Islands Time Forgot”, to the abstract compositions of contemporary artists who have ventured beyond idealised representations of nature to address a variety of ideological issues, visitors were confronted with a landscape, and a culture, in a state of flux. The exhibition ultimately provided a timely reminder of the fragile balance that exists between the natural and the man-made—a theme that was universally conveyed by this multi-generational cohort of artists.