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In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk: On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.

Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed. All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.

Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk: On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.

Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed. All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.

Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

In the year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Highgate Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of works by members of the Artists’ Union of St Petersburg 1950-1980.

Curator John Barkes has been working with artists in St Petersburg for more than twenty years. A chance meeting in 1993 with a painter with close links to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts resulted in nearly a hundred trips to the city, with visits to more than three hundred studios. The collapse of the Soviet system in 1989 left many elite professions without salaries or resources. Members of Artists’ Unions were no exception, but crucially they retained their studios and the paintings that represented their lives’ work.

To the artists’ surprise, and often severe irritation, John Barkes nearly always ignored their finished exhibited paintings, which tended to be rigid and formal, selecting in preference the vibrantly observant oil sketches and drawings that had no monetary value under the old system. It has thus been possible, by chance and the accidents of history, to exhibit and sell a great number of works by eminent artists and teachers at very accessible prices.

One wall will feature designs for major mosaic and mural projects from the 1960s and 1970s by Evgeni Kazmin. He is most proud of his scheme for the Sochi State Circus building, and is delighted that it survived the depredations associated with the recent Winter Olympics. The main theme of any Socialist Realist exhibition is life under the Soviet system – work, leisure and the family – paintings of a time that has passed into history, brilliantly observed.

All works are for sale, mostly priced from £400 to £4,000.

Gallery Talk:
On Sunday 5th February at 5.30pm. Dr Elizaveta Butakova, visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, will lecture on Socialist Realism. John Barkes will share the platform giving his insights into the Soviet art education system.
Admission £10 (HLSI members £5) on the door.
To reserve your place please eMail admin@hlsi.net or telephone 020 8340 3343.

Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Exhibition continues until 16 February and is free.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.

Christopher Harris, Jockey Rider

Jamaican Intuitives     13-26 October

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a unique Jamaican branch of contemporary art which was first acknowledged post-independence and which continues to flourish. There are no pretty beach scenes; no ‘tourist’ art. The work is challenging and powerful.

Until Jamaican Independence in 1962, the larger part of Jamaica’s art establishment took only European and North American style art seriously. This was a legacy of colonialism. With Independence, the importance of the arts and of acknowledging and exhibiting Jamaican artists was recognised in helping to shape a national cultural identity.

It was the late Dr David Boxer, Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica for over 35 years, who coined the word ‘Intuitive’ – now an official art term. He defined the context in which these remarkable artists’ accomplishments should be considered:

‘These artists paint and sculpt intuitively. They are not guided by fashion. Their vision is pure and sincere, untarnished by art theories and philosophies, principles and movements. They are, for the most part self-taught…. Their visions (and many of them are true visionaries) as released through paint or wood, are expressions of their individual relationships with the world around them – and the worlds within.’

All five artists in this show were born and (have) spent their lives in Jamaica. Their work has been part of major exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica, and has been shown across the Caribbean, the US and Europe.

• Christopher Harris was born in 1974. He was one of the fourteen selected exhibitors in the prestigious Young Talent V Competition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2010. Encouraged to draw from an early age by his father, a farmer and a portraitist, Christopher’s work connects to his Ashanti forefathers.
• Kingsley Thomas was born in 1941. He worked in Kingston as a journalist for the now closed Jamaica Daily News before moving back home to rural Portland. A number of his lyrical paintings and sculptures refer to stories he covered as a journalist.
• Leonard Daley 1930 – 2006. Partly surreal, partly realist, Daley’s images tap into Jamaica’s collective consciousness and history. In 1999, at the opening of Daley’s one-man show at the University of the West Indies, Dr David Boxer declared him to be ‘one of the truly great natural painters of the century.’ Daley was awarded the prestigious Bronze Musgrave Medal in 2002.
• Evadney Cruickshank, born c1950. Evadney started painting after observing her then partner, the artist Sylvester Woods, at work. Her narrative paintings record daily life in her rural community – Pocomania services (an African-based religion), street dances, clearing up after hurricane damage. Her dry sense of humour infuses her work.
• Birth ‘Ras Dizzy’ Livingstone c1932 – 2008. Ras Dizzy first came to public attention in the 1960s as a Rastafarian poet/philosopher selling his writings on the University of the West Indies campus. A remarkable colourist, he portrayed himself in his paintings as a prize-winning boxer, a judge, a horse race jockey. A poetic insight was written on the reverse of each work.

Opening Party on Sunday 15th October 2-5 pm featuring the Koromanti Mento Band. Mento is Jamaica’s folk music and the precursor to ska and reggae. The High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Seth George Ramocan, will be guest of honour. Jamaican Intuitives is part of the official Jamaica55 celebrations.

Exhibition continues until 26 October.

Highgate Gallery open Tue-Fri 1-5; Sat 11-4; Sun 11-5. Closed Mon.