Professional Artist 101

What does it mean to be a professional artist?

Working at The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB)* we often have persons come in, asking to rent gallery space for exhibitions and how does one get their work in the NAGB. This shows us that there is a gap in the education between being taught art at your local high school or for persons just delving into their art for the first time, to becoming a professional artist. This new series, Professional Artist 101 will help with those looking to make that transition and will be a monthly article with tips and pointers, like who is a professional artist, how to establish a network or get into the art community, how to exhibit your work and how to eventually get your works in a prominent space like the NAGB.

 Hard at work: Nastassia Pratt prepping to start a painting.

Persons often ask if they only work on Sunday or the weekend would they be considered an artist. In this aspect an artist works should not be judged by the time of the day or week they choose to work rather it is if your consistent, does the community know your working, when last has anyone seen your work has your work grown or changed? These are the things that should be considered rather than what day you choose to work. However a professional artist works and does not only work when inspiration strikes, or when they have the money for this specific thing, they make sacrifices and get the results they want.

As we delve into this more we will extend the full answer to this question so please leave a response and join the discussion.

* In British and Commonwealth usage, the word gallery alone implies a public gallery. The Bahamas having been a British colony adheres to this term of gallery rather than museum. The NAGB is not a commercial gallery.

AW

Feature from the Exhibition: Rootsy

Rootsy

Jackson Petit

Acrylic on canvas

 48 x 32

D'Aguilar Art Foundation Collection

Rootsy is currently on display at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, as part of the Permanent Exhibition: The Bahamian Domestic. Originally on display as part of his solo exhibition, The Surface Beneath, Petit produced this piece after winning the 2012 Central Bank competition.

In this piece Petit explores the notion of masking oneself, be it personally or for a wider audience, as the individual in the painting stares at the audience with vacant eyes. Crowned in local foliage, Petite purposely chooses to integrate the Bahamian landscape into his work. This creates connections between artist, artwork and viewer, as the natural motifs provide a familiar point of reference. This common ground culturally integrates the work within a wider dialogue of 'Bahamian art'. Further, it situates the individual in the painting within a natural and cultural landscape, and poses the question: who is he masking himself from? As a Haitian-Bahamian artist, Petit actively integrates his personality and history into his work. Rootsy is thus, a form of self-portraiture, exploring the artist's own identity as it relates to his person, but also his history and culture.

As a central piece in The Bahamian Domestic, Rootsy is a particularly strong choice as it directly relates to the exhibition's exploration of Bahamian social and cultural identity. Remaining masked, the piece explores notions of 'Bahamianess' and what, as a nation, we choose to show and choose to hide. This focus on depth, on seeing beyond simple everyday existence, encourages viewers to look below the surface, deeper even. Coupled with the other pieces in The Bahamian Domestic, Rootsy is part of a larger call to notice one's physical, social and cultural landscape and one's place in it.

The Bahamian Domestic is on display on the bottom floor at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. The Gallery is open from 10AM to 4PM, Tuesday to Saturday and 12PM to 4PM, Sunday.

AK

The Bahamian Domestic is on display on the bottom floor at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. The Gallery is open from 10AM to 4PM, Tuesday to Saturday and 12PM to 4PM, Sunday.

Biography of the Artist:
Jackson Petit (born 1983, Nassau, The Bahamas) was educated at The College of The Bahamas and Toronto Film College, Toronto Canada. From 1998 to 2004 he was a participant in the FINCO Summer Art Workshops and has taken part in numerous group exhibitions. He won The Central Bank of The Bahamas Art competition six times in various categories and received top honors in the CLiCO Caribbean Art Competition in 2003.

Further Reading:
The Bahamian Artwork Collection: Jackson Petit
Jackson Petit 'Removing The Mask'

Artist Biography: Amos Ferguson

Amos Ferguson was born on February 28th, 1920 in Exuma. His parents, Robert and Lavina Ferguson raised their children in the settlement of The Forest where his father, Robert Ferguson, was a preacher for the local Baptist church. Amos was close with his father and spent many days with him in the church studying his Bible and learning to be a carpenter. Amos also spent time on the family farm, helping his mother with the crops.

In 1937, Amos took his carpenter skills to Nassau. Eventually, Amos found work in a furniture factory polishing unfinished wood. Amos worked at the factory till 1943, after which he left The Bahamas to go to the United States. During this time many Bahamians, both men and women, were hired by the United States as 'contract workers' to work the land due to a labor shortage as a result of World War II.

After spending several years working in the United States, Amos returned to Nassau where he quickly settled as a private contractor painting houses for wealthy families. Later, Amos' nephew, George Bastian, approached him about a dream he had, where God spoke that a member of their family was wasting their artistic talent. Quickly realizing that his nephew's dream spoke of his own talent, Amos started keeping pencils and paper in his pockets for inspirational moments.

When Amos was in his 50's he quit the house painting business and devoted all of his time to making art. Initially, Ferguson painted on cheap pieces of paper, conch shells and plastic cups; however, he quickly graduated to painting on large pieces cardboard and boxes. Amos set up a space on Bay Street where he sold his art to tourists. During his time there he met his wife, Bloneva "Bea" Ferguson. Bea was an instrumental force in Amos' life; she was a devoted wife and pushed him to sell his artwork, eventually hanging his paintings in her straw market stall which gave him more exposure. He also painted pictures on her straw bags and hats.

The late 1970s saw a sharp rise in Amos' popularity, when a tourist named Dr. Miller bought one of his pieces from Bea's stall to take home with her. Dr. Miller quickly became obsessed with Amos' work and returned to The Bahamas to meet him. Eventually she was taken to Amos' home, a space that he had converted into a gallery. His front wall bore a painting of Adam and Eve and the words Mr. Amos Ferguson Gallery- Match Me If You Can. Later, Dr. Miller showed Amos' work to Mr. Steibech, a curator of Caribbean Art in the United States. Mr. Steibech was interested in Amos' paintings and contacted the Wadsworth Atheneum, a large art museum in Hartford, Connecticut.

On March 31st, 1985, Amos had his first international exhibition entitled Paint Like Amos Ferguson at the Wadsworth Atheneum, thus cementing his status as a celebrated Bahamian artist. His show went on to travel to over 10 cities and museums in the United States. With his new celebrity status, Amos was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990 and was one of the many Bahamian representatives at the 1994 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Amos continued to paint, completing one painting every day till his death at the age of 89 in 2009. He is considered one of the pioneers of Bahamian art and was one of the first artists to put The Bahamas on the map.

-AK

Amos Ferguson: Bahamian Outsider is on display at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas till October 28th, 2012. The exhibition catalogue for Amos Ferguson: Bahamian Outsider will be released in October, 2012. To see an excerpt from the catalogue, click Here.

Be Firm But Be Fair: An Interview with Chief Curator, John Cox

Interview with Chief Curator from the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, John Cox. Cox was born in Nassau and later attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the United States. He has a BFA in Illustration and an MAT in Art Education. Cox is an artist, an Associate Professor at the College of The Bahamas and the owner and director of Popopstudios- Center for the Visual Arts. Cox joined the NAGB team in January 2012.

Ashley Knowles: What do you think the role of the curator is?

John: I think the role of the curator is to use a metaphor, it is like being a conductor of an orchestra, so it is about responsibility, leadership, delegation and creativity. It’s like being a Director, in the context of creating a film, in the sense that there are people doing filming, people doing editing and casting, so it’s about being on top of the entire dynamic structure of the exhibition.

I think that is what the act of curating is about. It is the sensitive handling of the creative process that didn’t begin with you, but ends with you.

A: Have you curated anywhere else?

J: My first experience doing curatorial work was at RISD, I didn’t think of it as curating though. RISD was my first experience doing it, but I didn’t think, “I am curating an exhibition now”.

I must have been about 19 or 20 when I did that, but I felt that it was a craft in and of itself, the ability to hang the shows and present the work, it was like the final follow through of any individual artist’s process.

A: What would you say makes a strong curator then?

J: I think that it is someone who is very fluent in the language and is able to translate, to basically be the interpreter. The curator needs to basically interpret the language of the art that they are responsible for. The resource of your gallery should also be taken into consideration, the physicality of the space, what kind of equipment you have that can support the work and so on.

What you really want to do is elevate the work, you don’t want to take it down a few steps, and you want to take it up. I think that is the goal of it, to bring a sense of clarity to the art.

A: Is that how you would define a ‘good’ show versus a ‘bad’ show, as in something that wasn’t translated in a digestible way?

J: It needs to be as digestible as it should be. The idea should not be to ‘dumb’ it down. You need to clear the path from the work to the viewer, that’s your responsibility. That’s what a gallery is really, its an artery, a conduit from the art to the audience, and all its staff should be focused on enhancing that experience. So what we try to do is to make the work as engaging, informative and provocative as we can based on how we install it, the colour of the walls, wall text, education, programs, labels and so on.

A:  You mention something about consciousness; do you think that it helps the curating process? Each individual is different and you tend to have more of an organic style, does having or not having consciousness help?

J: In terms of me being more organic, I think it is based on my experiences of finding myself having to make curatorial efforts now with paste experiences of previously being responsible for education. I find that the source of my knowledge in curating is experience.

 I’ve had different ways attaining experience and I think that my knowledge is based on the fact that I know what it is like to make art. I have a pretty good understanding of a broad range of processes even though I don’t actually do them. I think that is what people want to know, they want to understand the processes, what would have motivated someone to do this or choose to tell their story in that way.

I think really, what it is, is that curating is telling stories with art.

A: So it seems that being an artist has really helped you do this.

J: Yeah, I think so. I think that artists have become very fluent at figuring out what languages they need to speak.

How you establish yourself is as a curator, is by being consistent for a long period of time. I think many people are thrown off, that if they’re not popular they think that they need to change their philosophy so that they’ll be more popular. What you need to do is be responsible in the beginning, set up your own ideology and stick with it for the long term because if you are very clear and thoughtful in your statements and what you’re doing, people will start to gravitate towards you. I believe that people respect and understand consistency more than anything else.

A: Yeah, you need to be able to trust the institution.

J:  Yeah, I think trust is huge. If you don’t gain the trust of the art community or the artists that you are dealing with it is very, very difficult.

-AK

Feel free to send us a comment or email at mixedmediablog.nagb@gmail.com, we look forward to hearing from you!

In The Ring with Bahamian Artist Toby Lunn: Truth Revealed Part 2

Today's post is our full interview with Bahamian artist, Toby Lunn! Instead of choosing a few questions to answer, one of our lovely visitors kindly requested that we display footage for all of the questions. We hope you enjoy the interview. The questions from the interview are displayed below the video for your viewing pleasure.



1. Did you always wanted to be an artist?
2. What inspired your work?
3. What is your medium of choice? Why?
4. Least favorite and why?
5. Is there a connection between religion and your work?
6. Lifestyle versus profession?
7. When did you know you were an artist? You’re arrival?
8. What is an artist?
9. What would you do if were not creating art?
10. Favorite color? Any?
11. Technique styles, what is your process?
12. Do you think you can ruin a painting? What do you do when it happens?
13. If you could display your artwork anywhere, where would it be? Include location and art institution.
14. How important is classical training to an artist in your opinion?
15. Right- brain versus left-brain? What does this mean? Which are you, right, left or in the middle?
16. You are inspired by the Burnside brothers, Max Taylor and of course Kendal Hanna. What inspiration do you draw from these artists?

-JB

Feel free to send us a comment or email, we look forward to hearing from you!

In the Ring with Bahamian Artist Toby Lunn: Truth Revealed Part I

Choose the questions you want to have Toby Lunn answer. Select the number of the questions and place them in the comment box below. Entries will be accepted until Monday, November 28th at 4pm. On Tuesday, November 29th, 2011, the answers will be provided.

1. Did you always wanted to be an artist?

2. What inspired your work?

3. What is your medium of choice? Why?

4. Least favorite and why?

5. Is there a connection between religion and your work?

6. Lifestyle versus profession?

7. When did you know you were an artist? You’re arrival?

8. What is an artist?

9. What would you do if were not creating art?

10. Favorite color? Any?

11. Technique styles, what is your process?

12. Do you think you can ruin a painting? What do you do when it happens?

13. If you could display your artwork anywhere, where would it be? Include location and art institution.

14. How important is classical training to an artist in your opinion?

15. Right- brain versus left-brain? What does this mean? Which are you, right, left or in the middle?

16. You are inspired by the Burnside brothers, Max Taylor and of course Kendal Hanna. What inspiration do you draw from these artists?

Local and Global: Kendal Hanna and William de Kooning

Within Kendal Hanna's works there is great inspiration and reference to a particular abstract artist. Abstract art could not exist without the influential and prolific contributions of Williem de Kooning, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands on April 24th, 1904. The artist illegally moved to the United States in 1926. De Kooning was a visual mentor to Bahamian artist Kendal Hanna. De Kooning is renowned as the “leading figure of Abstract Expressionism whose painterly gesturalism transcended the conventional definitions of figuration and abstraction and had a substantial influence on art after World War II”, according to Jane Turner editor of The Dictionary of Art.

Similar to Kendal Hanna, de Kooning’s artistic talent was discovered at an early age and working within the art field was a provident career choice. Both artists visited and lived in New York City, NY and became influenced by the museums, culture, social, art and artists of their time. Established artists like Picasso, Miró and Mondrian among many others influenced de Kooning, which is sufficiently evident in his artwork during the 1930s and early 1940s. These influential artists became a foundation from which de Kooning was able to create his own abstract style and were the underlining bases in his famous women work series.

Another influential individual that effected de Kooning’s artwork was his wife, Elaine Fried. Before meeting his wife, de Kooning’s prominent painting figures were male nudes, which abruptly change after his marriage union. There is a lot of speculation whether Ms. de Kooning was the sole model for his woman series or if it was the combination of the popular female icons of the time. Either way there is great debate, interest, disguise, and controversy over one particular painting that will now be further addressed, Woman I.

Woman I
Oil on Canvas
75.86in. x 58in.
1950-1952
Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Image courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
The creation period was over two years 1950-1952 and this process was documented by photographer, Rudolph Burckhardt, illustrating the changes of the painting from its conception to final piece. One may wonder why there is an issue about this specific piece, truth be told, many art critics, historians and patrons have different views. From its showcase in 1953 in New York at the Sidney Janis Gallery, viewers were shocked by the visual depiction of a nude female. This painting is not a classic photorealistic rendition of a female nude, however, the colors are murky flesh colors, harsh brushstrokes, disproportional and exaggerated body parts. All of these characteristics of the painting, however, fall under the abstract umbrella. In de Kooning’s defense, the painting depicts the ironic commentary on the obsession of film, television and advertisement of presenting an artificial, unrealistic world to its viewers (Turner 162). Considering the representation of women in film during the 1950s, specifically Elizabeth Taylor in the 1954 film, Elephant Walk with de Kooning's Woman I, Taylor’s full skirted dress portrays her breasts as pointy and coned in shape, are also evident in de Kooning's painting. There is an emphasis on the exaggerated minuscule waistline, both seen in the film and in de Kooning’s painting. De Kooning brings attention to the ‘ugly’ truth about the 1950s depiction of women and the false sense of beauty that it projects.


Elephant Walk. Dir. William Dieterle. Paramount Pictures, 1954. Film.
Hanna and de Kooning technique styles are familiar in that both painters used photographs as inspiration and references, however, de Kooning takes the process one step further by placing the photographs onto the canvas, paints over them blurring the ability to separate the two. In Woman I, de Kooning uses a cut and paste a photograph of a woman smile instead of painting this image. Whereas, Hanna uses he grid pattern, discussed in the previous post, as a guide and blocking what areas will contain specific contents, while de Kooning uses the placement of the photographs as his ‘grid’.

In conclusion, both artists document their culture, surroundings and the influential subjects of the time. De Kooning documented women representation of the 1950s and in the same likeness Hanna documented Vincent D’Aguilar a prominent Bahamian art collector of our time. Visit The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas to view Kendal Hanna’s Portrait of Vincent D’Aguilar and Portrait of Vincent D’Aguilar After Death paintings.

A de Kooning retrospective exhibition is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

-JB


Works CitedTurner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art. London: MacMillan, 1998. Print.
This book is available at the NAGB Art Library.

Feel free to send us a comment or email, we look forward to hearing from you!

Kendal Hanna's "Happy Birthday To Me"

Currently on exhibition at the National Art Gallery is Kendal Hanna’s Retrospective Exhibition, “Happy Birthday To Me”. Spanning work from his near-60 year career, the exhibition features over 140 pieces ranging from Hanna’s psychologically intense portraits, his classic nude studies, and compelling abstract expressionist pieces. Curated by Dr. Erica M. James, the exhibition opened on the 25th of June 2011 and will sadly end in January 2012, so visit while you can!

First, let’s discuss the background of the artist, who was born on the 25th of June 1936 in Nassau, New Providence. Hanna is touted as a pioneer of Bahamian abstract expressionism. Having always known that he wanted to be an artist, Hanna first furthered his interests in art in primary school. His dreams did not begin to take shape until a fortuitous meeting with American artist, John St. John who soon after encouraged and mentored Hanna. Later, after a brief stint at the Post Office, Hanna became the first Bahamian artist to sign on to work at the famous Chelsea Pottery.

Hanna’s experiences at Chelsea Pottery forever altered the course of his life. There, he received his first formal art training. Hanna was also exposed to a number of influential Bahamian artists, many who nurtured his burgeoning abstract style by giving him the opportunity to travel to the United States. The rest of Hanna’s story is essentially history, as he started creating art at a rapid pace. Today, Hanna is a renowned Bahamian artist both locally and internationally. Hanna is also fortunate to have his work represented in many key private collections and the National Collection of The Bahamas.

When it comes to making art, Hanna is not as free spirited and abstract as his pieces are. From the moment a piece is conceived, Hanna spends a great deal of time composing it in his head. Fascinated with the process of art making, Hanna is a detailed planner and can spend a long period of time on a single piece. Visually, Hanna’s work is deeply psychological and personal which depicts his absorption with representation and self-representation. Known as the Master of the Line, every stroke and line in Hanna’s paintings are charged with meaning, representing formal artistic processes and the state of his emotional consciousness at the time. When asked about his art, Hanna’s response reflects his emotional ties to his work:

My experience as an artist has led me to many truths. The works you witness in this exhibition bear witness to where I stand. I am an abstract artist and I commit myself to its resolution. My work is a testimony of my faith, as a man of my time. Amen.

-AK

Works CitedThe National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. Happy Birthday To Me Kendal Hanna: A Retrospective. Nassau: The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, 2011. Print.
This book is available at the NAGB Art Library and available for purchase at the Mixed Media Gallery Store.

Feel free to send us a comment or email, we look forward to hearing from you!