As part of the Caribbean Fine Art Fair 2021 series of discussions, Fly on The Diaspora presents ‘Art in a Post Digital COVID World’. The event, in association with Occhi Arts and Entertainment, and Grace & Graffiti, takes place tomorrow from 2 pm EST.
As we endure the effects of the Covid pandemic, our lifestyles and dependence on technology to communicate have changed. Many businesses and organizations, including art houses and museums, have reviewed their business models whilst improving their online provision to retain and expand audiences. As artists and the wider industry capitalize on the availability of digital platforms, what impact will this have on the exposure of art and artist globally?
Interdisciplinary artist/anthropologist Alexis Alleyne-Caputo and Occhi Co-Director David Emmanuel Noel are joined by visual artists Cher Antoinette, Diogenes Ballester, Patricia Brintle, and Shadi Burton to explore the challenges and opportunities the future brings.
Cher Antoinette is a mother of two, a forensic scientist, and a multiple silver and bronze award winner at the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA). An Honors Graduate in Chemistry from UWI Cave Hill Campus, in 1989 Cher gained the position of being the first Forensic Scientist in Barbados having achieved her Master of Forensic Science from Kings College, University of London. She has since had a long and rewarding career in the field and is presently the Director of the Forensic Sciences Centre with the Office of the Attorney General. An accomplished visual artist and author, Cher’s works have been published in St. Somewhere Online Literary Journal, Blackberry: The Magazine, and in four anthologies – Bamboo Press’ – ‘She Sex’, The National Cultural Foundation’s – ‘Winning Words’, “She Speaks –Woman’s Journal” and ‘Senseisha’ – An Anthology on the sensuality of the Barbadian Woman. In December 2013, Cher self-published an anthology of poetry called MY SOUL CRIES, and in 2014 VIRTUALIS – The Love Story and VIRTUALIS – The Anthology. Her primary media for visual art is Watercolor and she has been exploring Pen/Ink & WC Wash. Her latest self-published anthology “Architects of Destiny” was launched at CaFA Fair Barbados in 2015. Cher has since been the subject of 2 solo exhibitions; at the UWI Cave Hill, Barbados, and the OAS Marcus Garvey Hall of Culture in Washington DC.
Diogenes Ballester, visual artist, educator, and writer holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BFA from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He has taught as Professor of Art at The Cooper Union in New York City, The State University of New York at New Paltz, the College of New Rochelle, and The State University of New York at Albany. Mr. Ballester’s work explores oral history, memory, mythology, ritual, and cultural identity along a transnational spectrum. In recent exhibitions, he has appropriated cultural objects and historical artifacts together with painting, drawing, prints, and new media as a way of accessing the past and re-interpreting the present in a trans-Caribbean dialogue. Ballester has received numerous honors for his artistic work and has exhibited widely in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. His work is in numerous private and public collections.
Self-taught artist Patricia Brintle was born in Haiti and immigrated to the United States in 1964. Although she has made the U.S. her residence, her colorful style reflects her native land. Her works on the Holocaust are on permanent display at the Holocaust Center of Temple Judea in New York and are used as teaching tools for visitors. One of her religious works, The First Mother, traveled with the Black Madonna Exhibit which made its debut at the famed National Museum of Catholic Art and History in New York and toured museums throughout the United States. She also has a painting that hangs in the permanent collection of Albert Schweitzer Institute in Hamden, Connecticut, and her images have been published in both secular and religious periodicals.
Born in October 1986, Shadrach Burton is a visual artist from Wotten Waven, Dominica. His older brother Gharan, along with his father David, are artists also and this was a key factor in his art collection currently dating back to 1994. After being introduced to Earl Etienne and Ellingsworth Moses in the year 2000, he was participating in exhibitions at the age of 13 and has since stacked up over 50 exhibitions including 6 solo art shows. He recently graduated with a master’s degree in fine art after studying for 7 years in Hangzhou, China. Before going to pursue studies in China, in 2007, Shadrach majored in Biology and Physics and even taught high school biology for 3 years. He currently produces art using a style that is influenced by nature, music, pop culture, social commentary, and his odd sense of humor.
For further information on the discussion and Caribbean Art Fair, please visit
Images
- ‘Oh Gurrl, Pleasse!’ by Cher Antoinette
- ‘Amethyst’ by Patricia Brintle
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