Parallel realities on a Caribbean island

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Parallel realities on a Caribbean island

New exhibit traces the careers of five pioneering artists from Barbados

"Four Women with Baskets," by Kathleen Hawkins

"Black Man in a Cap," by Golde White

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Visual arts at IDB's Cultural Center

By Roger Hamilton

Artists from small nations often face formidable barriers in gaining international recognition. But cultural isolation can occur even within a country, where artists pursue career paths that seldom cross.
Such was the case in the eastern Caribbean island of Barbados during the first half of this century. In this British colony, whose plantation economy was based on growing and processing sugar cane, artists were few and far between, and their interaction was limited by the invisible barriers of class and priviledge.

A recent exhibit, "Parallel Realities: Five Pioneering Artists from Barbados," on view in the IDB Cultural Center Art Gallery, presents works from both sides of the socioeconomic divide. The first three of five artists featured in this exhibit were closely associated with the dominant colonial class, the so-called "plantocracy," according to exhibit curator Félix Angel. Moreover, the careers of these women personified the conviction, popular in the Victorian age and the period immediately following, that an interest in the visual arts was a feminine characteristic.

Golde White devoted her attention to people, painting portraits that reveal an inner life. An example is "Black Man in a Cap," a work that expresses subtle reflections of the social contradictions of her time as well as the informal dignity of the subject himself. Taking an active role in public life, White promoted art education, creating an arts society in Barbados modeled after a similar group she founded in Guyana.

Aileen Hamilton, recognized for outstanding achievement by the Royal College of Art during the time she studied in England, demonstrates a delicate and intimate approach to portraiture in her painting "Indian Girl." Her work, carried out in many different mediums, expresses the pleasure and enthusiasm she took in her art.

Kathleen Hawkins, who was born into a typical plantation-owning colonial family, produced art that displays a close understanding of the local reality in the society in which she lived. Her painting "Four Women with Baskets" arranges her subjects on the same plane and demonstrates a skillful use of paint and color to produce atmospheric effects.

The final two artists belonged to the socioeconomic underclass by virtue of education, race and class.

Karl Broodhagen, who was born in Guyana, arrived in Barbados with his mother at the age of 15 and worked as a tailor's apprentice. His understanding of form was to prove important in his later career in sculpture. An example of his work is "Slave in Revolt," a reaffirmation of the force of individual character. Broodhagen won a fellowship to study in London, but he only stayed for one year because he lacked the funds to support his family, which remained in Barbados.
Ivan Payne, at his best as a landscape artist, typically uses a spacious and largely empty foreground to usher the viewer into the other elements of the picture. In "Speightstown on the Coast," the first boat all but escapes from the canvas, magnifying the effect of visual movement. Trained as a furniture maker, Payne's formal art education did not go beyond weekly drawing lessons at school.
Despite flashes of brilliance, each of the artists had technical and ideological limitations, says Angel. "The limitations do not stem from personal incapacity," he adds, "but from the pressures imposed by a society in which the colonial spirit still prevailed despite questions about its validity."

Today, the young Barbadian artists who are beginning to gain recognition are producing work that reflects a more pluralistic and multicultural outlook. But according to Angel, all are indebted to the pioneering steps taken by the five artists represented at the show.