NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The work of over 51 artists is now on display at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas’ NE10 ‘Mercy’ Exhibition; the pieces were uncovered at a grand opening ceremony Thursday evening on gallery grounds.
Dozens of installations hung on every wall in the indoor space varying from, displays, to paintings, to photography as viewers flocked the area to observe the Bahamian-themed artwork.
Veteran artist, Antonius Roberts’ piece, ‘Beauty for Ashes’ featured, an audio and video installation along with wood, stones and charcoal from a building that he says burnt down beside his studio, but the fire did not effect his space; in this way Roberts explains he had experienced mercy.
“There was not a spark, there was not even from the fire engine, the water; it was nothing and so for me therefore it had to have been angels and somebody had mercy on me” Roberts said.
Roberts highlighted the Bahamian elements his work, explaining that the charred wood was still in tact because it is a strong locally-grown durable pine. He added that the song being played with the exhibit was from a local artist in which the song captures the mood feeling and essence of the art.
“The outside is so dark and charred but when you go just beneath the surface of this charcoal there is still amazing beauty; and its simply because this is Abaco or Andros pine which means it endureth forever which means that its a celebration of our history and I’ve had Symonne Bowe-cartwright who is a cousin of mine and so I sort of worked with her to produce the song specifically for this installation” he said.
Digital artist, Scharad Lightbourne adding a less conventional piece to the mix, in the untitled photography which shows a woman shimmering in dark light. He says it represents the preservation of culture through the people.
“…the stories that we have to tell the things that make us the things that break us and so for me trying to portray that in a very beautiful and eccentric way but still simple is kind of what I’ve always wanted to do as a photographer and so you’ll see even though what’s obvious in the images which are Bahamian colors, the flag colors.
“Its a little more than that for me. It symbolizes our people it symbolizes what we’ve been through coming out of a pandemic coming out from hurricane Dorian and all of these things that we seem to continuously bounce from so […] the beautiful treasure come from who we are as a people.
Jodi Minnis’ display ‘Its not mine to hold’ features dozens of the traditional ‘Bahama Mama’ glass salt shaker containers standing upright in a bed of salt encased in a yellow plexi glass. The artist says her work is about multiplicity and how things regenerate over time.
Minnis says as it relates to the theme, mercy she thought about the lack thereof and the desensitization in our interpersonal relationships and she wanted to depict the fragility of life.
“Salt is a preserver you know you cure meat with salt you use salt when cooking it like this all present thing […] and so I’m in the act of preserving these salt shakers and this iteration of the work and so that’s why there’s 100 bottles of Morton salt for the foundation of them” Minnis said.
The NAGB Exhibition, NE10 Mercy is free of charge for Bahamians and open to the public until January 2, 2023.
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