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Artists Contribute To Build 3 Storey Classrooms

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Some of our talented member artists as well as several known and admired artists have contributed pieces of work to the Holy Name Convent’s “Art is Life” Auction to be held at Archbishop’s House on Friday 19th October, 2018.

This art auction is In support of the school’s fund to construct a 3-storey building that will not only support the expansion of their 6th Form population but also feature state-of-the-art Classrooms and a multifunctional ground floor space for performances, exhibitions and special events.

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Black Eyes By Wulf Gerstenmaier

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How should artists evolve is an urgent question sought by many and answered by few. With an ever-changing audience in a digital landscape that has essentially changed the game on a global scale. The question now is: “How will artists address the future of art in a story that is still unfolding?”

One artist has taken a bold step forward with a body of work that creates an interesting paradox that can be the entry to answer this question. His name is Wulf Gerstenmaier; a German national residing in Trinidad for eighteen years.  His 2018 exhibition entitled BLACK EYES is scheduled to open on the Tuesday 9th October, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. and will continue to run until the 13th October, 2018 from the12 noon to 6:00 p.m.

BLACK EYES

The new visual experience

Colorful Iridescent. Cool Calm. Light Illuminating

 

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This exhibition is a fictive conversation between the body and soul. Each painting will challenge the viewer to see the world through the enchanted eyes of contemporary art which has thoroughly exploited the creative development of the collection.

Operating seamlessly between fine arts and conservation Wulf embodies the modern Renaissance Man. He accepts fully that we are in a new age of modernism but insists on aesthetic dignity in an era that embraces a staunch primitivism and minimal skill. He is firmly anchored in tradition and training but thinks like a revolutionary. 

His evocative paintings embrace a sense of passionate serenity. Strong but fluid, his work has a through line that speaks to the environments he surrounds himself with, his love for the beauty of the human form and his sense of geometric experimentation. While pushing the boundaries of the expectations of formal sculpture, the work opens up the viewer’s own potential for abstract possibilities.

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Press Release – SouthBound – Group Exhibition

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The Ladybird Picnic has brought together twelve artists from south Trinidad to celebrate in watercolour, oils, sculpture, acrylics, batik, pen and ink, the history, landscape, culture and community of south Trinidad.

Hot on the heels of curating Sarah Beckett’s successful showing in San Fernando last month, The Ladybird Picnic is thrilled to be collaborating with The GD Gallery once again to host another art exhibition in San Fernando. Neala Luna, curator of ‘Southbound’, says, “We are excited about the support we have received, and look forward to hosting more solo and collective exhibitions this year, and to giving artists a space in South Trinidad to exhibit their art, and a platform from which to engage with fellow artists, mentors, students and art enthusiasts.”  

Sharon Burford, a southern artist with a deep love for San Fernando believes that ‘Southbound’ and subsequent exhibitions, are valuable for many reasons. “It is helpful for artists to feel appreciated and empowered in their own environment, and a collective exhibition like this will encourage city tourism by attracting patrons from the more traditional locales. It exposes citizens to more of their country and to perhaps even different ways of thinking.” There are business opportunities too, as ‘Southbound’ has employed the services of caterers, printers, event rental companies in South. 

As exhibiting artist, Reita Antoine, says, “Southerners enjoy a rich landscape filled with unique features of our heritage. To record and embrace our heritage through the arts is to contribute to the fine legacy that they can bring to a people.”

Exhibiting artist, Candice Sankarsingh agrees, “Personally, I believe there is a need for greater visibility of artists and their work throughout the country. There should be regular dialogue between artists and the public. Art is not restricted to a single location, nor is it controlled by one demographic in T&T society. The local art scene is diverse and ready to be engaged. ‘Southbound’ will shine a spotlight on this idea.”

Southbound – Art Exhibition opens at 5pm on Thursday 28th June, continues until 3pm on Sunday 1st July, and includes a Film Screening/Meet the Artists evening on Saturday 30th, and a Coffee/Tea Morning on Sunday 1st.

Our exhibition is open to all art enthusiasts and there is no entrance fee. All works of art are available for purchase.

Follow “Southbound – Art Exhibition” on facebook for previews and exhibitor profiles: https://www.facebook.com/events/1989195884742376/

 

Location: The GD Gallery, Gentle Dentistry Implant Centre, Hilda Lazzari Terrace, San Fernando

Contact: Exhibition Curator: Neala Luna, The Ladybird Picnic 6817576

SOUTHBOUND’s exhibiting artists include:

AJ ROGERS

BUNTY O’CONNOR

CANDICE SANKARSINGH

CHAN, INTROVERTLY BUBBLY

ELANA NATHANIEL

GARETH LEIGH CHAN SING

KEISHA PADILLA

RANDALL GERARD FULCHAN

REITA ANTOINE

RITA RAJKUMAR

SHARON BURFORD

SHINHUEY HO

 

Exhibition hours:

Thurs 28th: Opening Reception 5pm – 8pm

Fri 29th: 10am – 5pm

Sat 30th: 10am to 5pm

Sat 30th: Film Screening / Meet The Artists Lime 5pm – 8pm

Sun 1st: 10am to 3pm (Coffee & Tea Morning)

 

 

 

 

 

Awardees For May 2018 Members’ Group Exhibition

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PAINTING/DRAWING

1st Place – Shalini Seereeram

2nd Place – Deborah Clement

3rd Place – Harold Bryden

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

1st Place – Keith Aqui

2nd Place – Anna Charles Smith 

3rd Place – Christine Norton

 

SCULPTURE/CERAMIC other 3D Works

1st Place – Rachel Lee Young

2nd Place – Shalini Seereeram 

3rd Place – Carol Rafeek 

 

Best New / Emerging Artist – Estevan Dubrisingh

Lifetime Honouree – Harold Bryden

President’s Award – Antonio Figuero 

 

These awards were sponsored by 101 Gallery.

Tribute To Oswald Glean Chase

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A memorial was held for Oswald Glean Chase on Saturday 12thMay 2018 at the home of Charlotte a Elias. The ASTT was invited and both Peter Sheppard – President and Che Lovelace – Director attended. The President delivered a tribute on behalf of the Art Society as authored by James Armstrong- Asst Secretary . 

Photos courtesy Abigail Hadeed

 

Oswald Glean Chase was born in 1930 and passed away 15thApril 2018

We at the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago offer our condolences to the family and are extremely saddened by his passing. We pay tribute to his legacy as one of our early pioneers of the visual arts community in Trinidad and Tobago. Our records show that he would have joined the then Trinidad Art Society in his very early 20s and was immediately recognised as wanting to interrogate, if not repudiate, the narratives that surrounded him in the small art community at the time. He was intuitive and showed an inclination towards non-objective representations, albeit grounded in themes of the places that he traversed as a youngster. Young Chase challenged not only himself, but his works of art also tugged at the innate curiosity of the viewer and those with whom he quietly associated in the Society. He clearly saw “art” not only as that which is seen, but as a creative conscious process to be shared. The questioning, which he certainly would have evoked, would be: “What exactly is on Chase’s mind?” to which he never felt compelled to offer an explanation. Therein were the seeds of a creative genius.

As Chase approached his mid 20s he increased his offerings for viewing. In 1955 he showed two works entitled “Port of Spain Through Sun Glasses” and “Last Lap.” During this period, Marguerite Wyke, who served as president of the ASTT and occasional critic, described Chase and fellow artist Colin Laird as being “in time with modern industrial civilization,” noting the tendency towards departure from the mainstream. Two other interesting offerings were titled “Cock Fight” and “Gasparee Caves,” which demonstrated his groundings in the culture and surroundings, yet experimenting in his medium and messaging.

Chase then left to study architecture in England and parts of Europe. The records also show that he would have had a distinct interest in the Bauhaus philosophy of “Art into industry.” He then went on to excel in architecture and taught the subject at the professorial level at Howard University; Pratt Institute

Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. He often took time out from his lectures to design and pursue his love for painting. He also developed an interest in photography and the camera became a constant companion through which lenses he gave us another perspective of his peculiar insights.

We at the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago were elated when he returned to the commune of the ASTT to mount his last exhibition “Trinidad as Art: Micro Gardens in Woodbrook” in June 2013. That exhibition lived up to expectation, challenging us to stop and wonder about the beauty in the mundane as we wander on our pavements with glimpsing images of the facades. Even in his senior years he never stopped asking himself and others, “Why not?” which confirms his place in the annals of our records of our artistic icons.

May I take the opportunity to mention that in November of this year we at the Art Society will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the organization with a major exhibition and we are looking forward to including some representation of Chase’s work. Therefore, we look forward to liaising with his family and collectors to help us in making this possible.

We thank his family, Dr. Howard Chase, his grandsons , Philip and Michael and his daughter-in-law, Claudia for being able to share his legacy. May he rest in please.

Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago

Peter Sheppard, President.

Drafted by James Armstrong.