Published: Thursday, 9 January 2025

Happy New Year Everyone!

Welcome to 2025! To kick off a new year at Ambiri Sana, we are diving into the vibrant and under-appreciated world of Caribbean art, to brighten the grey of winter with a splash of Caribbean sunshine. We’ve been fairly Western-centric so far, which is okay to build a foundation, but we need to broaden our horizons. There’s a world of art to discover, and it’s when you leave the cave that things get interesting.

‘Tell Us A Tale, Antonia!’, and this is the tale she told.

At a pink and white family-run hotel in Barbados lies a private art collection of artists from across the Caribbean islands. The collection elevates the experience and emphasises the local roots, even though it surprisingly is not promoted as part of their ethos compared to other art-focused hotels. For visitors to Barbados, the beach is the main attraction not the art... but maybe the art should be a higher priority.

It is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to see an art genre exist in its native environment: an indoor-outdoor historic house with the Caribbean sun and the sound of crashing waves, with the warm salt air enhancing the experience.

The Caribbean contribution goes beyond the cliches of rum, music, beaches, and the setting of my favourite Johnny Depp movie franchise. It is an easy trap to fall into though: I was in the middle of writing a cheeky joke about Rihanna and Pirates of the Caribbean when I realised I was naively falling into the well-established stereotypes I was trying to break away from.

That thought led me to an interesting observation about the Western-centric viewpoint of art, its introduction to Western audiences in education (specifically mine), and how that hinders the general knowledge of art from these ‘other’ regions.

Unfortunately, once you step away from the 'mainstream' (primarily European) fields, University courses often take a broad, reductive approach, labelling entire regions as simply ‘Latin American Art’, ‘Islamic Art and Architecture’ or ‘Arts in America’. My 'Art of Africa' course was fascinating, and the lecturer was amazing, but we had limited time to canter through all the wide range of artistic traditions, from the tribal art of West Africa to the wood carvings of East Africa.

In a similarly limiting fashion, Caribbean artistic movements and traditions are often subsumed under the catch-all term ‘Latin American Art.’ For example, the rich tradition of Haitian-Voodoo inspired art, with its distinctive use of vibrant colours and symbolic imagery, is often lumped into the broad category of ‘Latin American Art’ rather than being recognised as a unique artistic expression on its own merits rooted in Haitian culture and history. The bold, expressive paintings of Trinidadian artists, like Michel-Jean Cazabon, tend to get overlooked when Caribbean art is discussed alongside the more well-known artistic traditions of Central and South America.

There are some good reasons for this approach. Some courses were explicitly intro-level, designed as a quick way to summarise everything you may learn, with the niche genres mentioned later. Sometimes it is a question of math: there was simply more art produced (or, at least, preserved) in 14^th Century Rome than Barbados. And some of it is progress: I just checked my alma mater’s art history catalogue and was pleased to see the same specification for a few new non-Western intro courses: ‘Carving the Divine: Japanese Buddhist Sculpture’, ‘Congo to Cuba: Art, Exchange, and Self-Determination in Africa and Latin America’, and ‘Problems of African Diaspora Art History’. I must say this is a significant improvement: let’s be honest, the more specific and poetic a course title, the more captivating it is.

I make these points as observation, not criticism, and primarily because I noticed the lazy assumptions in my own thinking. So, to make amends, let me introduce you to 'Caribbean Art: From Taino to Crypto', along with several notable artists as we assert the art historical value of this region, broaden our exposure and reveal the beauty of Caribbean art.

What is Caribbean Art?

Caribbean art is a diverse and vibrant expression of the cultures, histories, and experiences of the region. It defines the production of all the islands and artists whose heritage returns them back to the Caribbean. It encompasses a wide range of artistic forms, including painting, sculpture, music, dance, and literature, often reflecting the blended influences of Indigenous (Taíno), African, and European traditions. Caribbean art captures the unique identity and social issues of the islands, celebrating their rich heritage while also addressing contemporary themes. We can divide Caribbean art into four chronological categories: Pre-Columbian (second millennium BC - 1492), Colonial (these dates vary depending on the region and specific history), Post-Colonial (also varies by region), and Modern/Contemporary (1860 (depending on region)- Present day).

The Holders

Let us return back to the pink and white Bajan paradise with the private art collection. You will be surprised to know there were multiple works by Geoffrey and Boscoe Holder. Considering a painting by Boscoe or Geoffrey Holder retails for around $14,000 (and they had 4), that’s a nice safety deposit considering recent auction prices went for over +300% of its mid-estimated value. Let’s examine these two brothers more closely.

The Introvert and the Extrovert. The brothers were born in Trinidad and became directors, actors, musicians, dancers, and artists. Child prodigy Boscoe later established his own dance company, which his younger (by nine years) brother Geoffrey joined. After leaving their island, they made an extraordinary impact on the dance and music scene in London and New York City. Boscoe and his troupe performed at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, while Geoffrey pursued a theatrical path on the stage working with Josephine Baker and won two Tony Awards in the 1970s. Bond lovers might even recognise Geoffrey from Live and Let Die (we all know the best Bond is Sean Connery or Daniel Craig, no debate) [Editors Note: good job we don't employ fact checkers, because it's clearly Roger Moore].

Art and painting were ever present in their life. In their 2024 exhibition, Victoria Miro Gallery stated that “both regarded the impulse to paint as intrinsic to their broader creative drive, an embodied painting informed by and informing their accomplishments as choreographers and performers.”

Personally, I’m more of a Boscoe fan. There is a captivating gentleness in the way he depicts his portraits of women (mainly his wife) through the soft, blended brushstrokes and chosen colour palette. They’re a head-turner in the same way someone would break their neck to appreciate beauty in real life. I find the application of colour and paint strokes in his work beautiful, from the blue highlights on the woman’s face and body to the hair curls and head scarf against the abstract background contrasting with white walls. His style is probably considered more classical compared to his brother’s.

Initially, Geoffrey’s art features a contemporary point of view, expressive animation, and texturised rendering of background, landscape, and people that contributes movement and a vibrant energy to each work. Upon closer observation of Nude Lovers Embracing, you see light and shadow passing through the foliage reflecting off the skin. However, the completed work of both brothers is truly a choreographed dance with colours, brush strokes, and themes that lead you one way only to end up gazing at a different detail. Their art can be as smooth and progressive as the foxtrot, carry a melancholic and technical air like the waltz, or be as vibrant and expressive as the salsa.

From the images of the Holders’ works in this newsletter, we can ascertain several details to authenticate their work. The frames immediately stand out to me: both brothers use thin wooden frames in a gold finish. They may have shared a studio or just sourced materials from the same supplier. It seems the owners kept the original frame and encased it with a larger white or black outer frame when possible. Artistically, it was a brotherly affair just by looking at the side by side of the reclining figures above. They strike me as uniquely independent with a shared sensibility of what or who they portrayed, and where they came from. Boscoe’s work first gained fame and appreciation, but now Geoffrey is considered the most desirable in the market. You wouldn’t have one without the other, and frankly they both complement each other well.

Owning a combination of both their works creates a stronger, intimate, and critical component to how their work is presented, received, and understood by the public. In a way, it has solidified their place in history, as you cannot discover one without the other. At the Victoria Miro booth at Art Basel Miami 2024, one work by both brothers was displayed with only one work by a different artist separating the two.

Conclusion

I always love seeing a region and culture's essence expressed through art and how it embodies things that can’t be expressed verbally from the past, present, or near future. It’s entirely its own, and one would think the historical European influences would allow easier access, appreciation, and nostalgia from this genre.

If we created a university course on Caribbean art, what title or theme truly represents the integral themes and subjects of this genre? Maybe it could be 'From The Land of the Hummingbird to the Valiant and Noble Lord: Exploring the Diverse Landscapes in Caribbean Art', or 'Caribbean Portraiture: Expressions of Cultural Identity and Postcolonial Narratives'. Or perhaps it’s 'Curation of the Unseen: Contextualising, Exhibiting, and Amplifying Underrepresented Art Forms and Genres'.

Someday, perhaps, we'll find the time to write that book... but for now we learn and admire and grow. With that being said, here is one final artwork for the road.

Video from artist's X account.

Thanks for reading! I enjoy researching and writing this newsletter, and I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who may appreciate it 😊 If you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please reply to this email!

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