- Dennis CokePatrons were intrigued with Nosbourne Lee's 'The Restless Reaper' (welded steel).
Michael Robinson, Staff Reporter
IT'S THAT time of year again when Mutual Life Gallery showcases the talent of Jamaican artists who have been practising for less than ten years.
The "Young Generations" exhibition, which opened on March 12, was well attended by what assistant curator/art critic, Sana Rose, calls "an excellent crowd." Based on the comments in the guest book, the crowd appeared to have been voluminous and amply impressed.
There is something there for everybody.
'The Ones We Ignore' and 'I Am a Member of Society' are numbered one and two respectively, and represent a strong effort by Christopher Lawrence. The painter's solid drawing makes for two compelling portraits, the subjects of which display an undeniable fierceness of expression.
Drawing ability also lends presence to the torsos of Khalil Deane. 'Slipping Away Series (numbers 1&2)' depict human torsos with words showing through a translucent top coating. The works seem to address a communication straining to come to the surface.
Experimentation, a recurrent theme throughout the show, is evident in Deane's method of presentation. The two canvases are stretched over small stretchers so the extra material flows over the edges onto the wall. His third canvas, 'Time and I', is unstretched and mounted directly on the wall.
Presentation is refreshingly varied throughout the exhibition, with artists doing things like framing paintings with cord and chains (Lois Ingledew).
The three-dimensional pieces are arguably among the more visually stimulating.
Notably, Nosbourne Lee's welded pieces received a lot of attention. All created with welded steel, the pieces tickle the imagination. The sculptor uses bicycle parts and scrap metal to give life to 'The Restless Reaper' in a version of death -- the grim reaper -- that casts the entity as a tireless machine, complete with scythe and 'lass'.
Chalik Campbell makes his debut in this annual expo of young talent with two earthenware masks. 'Mask #3' is clearly West-African inspired, complete with decorative markings symbolising the ritual scarifications which are commonplace among many tribes. His second mask carries more of a South American flavour with geometric lines and forms reminiscent of Aztec or Mayan art.
Africa comes through strongly in the work of Mazola Wa Mwashigadi. The Kenyan's three pieces use forms and materials steeped in the ancient traditions of African sculpture. A fetish piece, 'Medicinal Vase' is a hollow log studded with wooden pegs and wrapped with beads and binding wire. A fetish object is an inanimate object considered to have magical powers or to be inhabited by spirits.
Mazola's pieces, while not necessarily fetishist in design, all carry an air of timeless conjuration.
More than anything else, the 'young generation' seems to want to be heard. From the quietly powerful, almost Palaeolithic, transmission of concept in Tafui's 'Warman' to the far more vociferous 'Marlowe: The White Man's Mercenary' by Oya Tyehimba, these artists are saying that they each have something to say.
The exhibition, while not particularly cohesive, is both interesting and challenging.
In today's society where food and work seem to carry more weight than things of an aesthetic nature, these artists are displaying a relevance ('Heads of Government', Kristina Newman) and a vision ('The Journey', Yulandae Gordon) that society may do well to heed.
