Feb. 4, 2003 – Caneel Bay Resort, in the words of Iris Kern, "has cachet."
It's a world apart from the one that Kern deals with daily as executive director of The Safety Zone, St. John's agency for assisting victims of violence, domestic abuse and other crime.
But this weekend those two worlds will converge in what Kern says will be the most prestigious international art exhibition held in the territory for as long as she can remember.
"The World Hand" is the title of the show, which will include works by more than 20 artists and artisans from the Caribbean, the Americas, Africa and Australia. The artwork will be displayed at Caneel Bay Resort in the lounge by the main dining room and all the way down the long hallway in the area.
The featured artist is internationally acclaimed Trinidadian painter Boscoe Holder, who will have 13 works in the show. Each of the other individual exhibitors will be represented by two works.
Other off-island pieces being exhibited are mixed media works by Susan Kemenyffy of Pennsylvania; raku pottery by Robert Piepenburg of Michigan; oils by former St. Croix artist Donald Laurent Dahlke, now based in Oregon; watercolors by Arnie Westerman, also of Oregon; paintings by Peter Arguimbau of Connecticut; dolls by Chris Boston of Australia; silk kimonos and weaving by Maureen, also from Australia; and jewelry by Lisa Ceccorulli and works by Kate Winn, both mainland artists.
Also in the exhibition are Shona stone sculpture pieces from Nyanga, Zimbabwe, and 30 "wearable art" brooches from Australia made of gold, silver, bone and titanium. "Each is an oriental landscape miniature," Kern says.
Kemenyffy is internationally known for her etching work and "she and her husband were invited to Japan to teach raku," Kern says.
Holder and Kemenyffy will be present at Caneel Bay this weekend to discuss their work.
Kern says she is both surprised and thrilled at the level of support from artists from the mainland and the islands. "The Crucian artists are coming over in force," she says.
Among them are metal sculptor Mike Walsh; watercolorist Luca Gasperi; painter Maud Pierre-Charles; painter Gerville Rene Larsen, known for his "space between" art; and kinetic sculptor Larry Lipsky
From St. John are painters Kat Sowa and Janet Cook-Rutnik; ceramic artists Mark Hansen and Gail Van de Bogurt; jewelry maker Michael Banzhaf; mosaic artist Lisa Crumrine; wood-turning artist Avelino Samuel; and musician/woodworker Jay Robinson, who for two decades has been "documenting, in wood, a series of ideas about the ancestors of the future."
And from St. Thomas are painter/enamalist Eunice Summer and painter Cathy Carlson.
It's a juried show, meaning a panel of judges, not the artists themselves, decided who and what would be shown. It's not a competition; no ribbons or prizes are being awarded. It's also not an auction, silent or otherwise. What you see on the price list is what the sellers expect to get.
In short, says Kern, it's "a world-class gallery exhibition, and the whole idea is for people to buy the art. This is an important fund-raiser for us, and the work being sold is truly superb."
The title "The World Hand," Kern says, signifies that "what we're really showing is the creative impact of the hand, on an international level. Everything in the show is hand done." She says the idea for the title came from when she was living In Washington, D.C., where there was an exhibition called "The American Hand."
There are two opportunities to view the artwork. At a gala opening on Saturday evening, guests will be treated not only to visual investment and enjoyment opportunities but also to champagne and a selection of hors d'oeuvres and chocolate indulgences prepared by Caneel chefs.
The evening gets going at 6 p.m. Tickets are $100 in advance and $125 at the door.
On Sunday, the exhibition will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $25. There will be light refreshments.
Outside the box, not out of the suitcase
In planning the show, "we really wanted this not to be suitcase art," Kern says, and the result lives up to expectations. "I did graduate study in art before I became socially conscious, and since I've been in the territory, I haven't seen a show of this quality," she says.
"The 'Africa in the HeART of the Virgin Islands' show came close," she says, referring to an exhibition mounted on St. Thomas in April 2001 in conjunction with the hosting by the University of the Virgin Islands of the 12th triennial Symposium on African and Caribbean Art sponsored by the Arts Council of the African Studies Association.
That juried exhibition, of local artists' works, was curated by Shira Sofer, a St. John resident who teaches art at UVI and who spent more than a year putting that show together. Sofer has again been pressed into service for the Safety Zone show. "She's really good at getting cutting-edge stuff," Kern says.
The planning committee also included St. John artists Sowa and Hansen. And Kern drew on her acquaintance with June Bibby, who lives on Tortola and "has put together the largest arts and crafts show in Australia for the last 20 years."
A prestigious place for the show was a must, and Caneel was clearly the first choice. "Caneel has such cachet. I was expecting to have to sell the idea to Brian," Kern says, referring to the resort's general manager, Brian Young. "I started out with 'This is what we're thinking…' and he immediately said 'Sounds great!" On reflection, she says, his enthusiasm made sense: "This will appeal to his guests, as well as to everyone else."
The show has come about because after several years of raising funds through the auction of work by Virgin Islands artists, Kern wanted to try something different.
She got connected with Holder through — what else? — her hairdresser, who happens to be St. Thomas's Philip Sturm, who happens to know just about everybody in the art and antiques circles of the Caribbean, especially in his native Trinidad.
"As Philip was cutting my hair, I said we were thinking about doing something else for this year, maybe Cuban art," she recalls. "And he pulled out this book and said 'You should get in touch with this artist.'"
She gave Holder a call, "and he said 'You've got to come here to the studio and see what I've got.'" So Kern, her husband, Bill Needham, and Joyce Horn, a Safety Zone board member, headed off to Trinidad. "He hosted us for two days at his Port of Spain studio," she says of Holder. "He let us pick what we wanted. I made most of the choices, and he said, 'You're in the wrong field, you know.' I felt deeply honored."
The 13 pieces selected include male and female portraits and landscapes.
Boscoe Holder: capturing Caribbean essence
Born Arthur Aldwyn Holder in Port of Spain in the "very early 1920s," musician, dancer and painter Boscoe Holder has lived and worked in Trinidad, New York, London, Sweden and Guadeloupe. His paintings have won him praise for the natural poise and rhythm of his subjects and the incorporation of traditional ethnic expressions and folklore.
Sixty-five years after his first art exhibition, some of his paintings, like old friends, clutter his studio, while others adorn international galleries. Nobel laureate Derek Walcott has said that Holder's images "have the lasting exultation that one receives from a folk hero. Here, with affectionate insight, the expressions of the West Indian face are beautifully recorded."
Holder was born into an environment conducive to an appreciation of the arts: His mother, from Martinique, and his father, of Barbadian descent, had won trophies for ballroom dancing. And yes,
he is the brother — the elder brother — of dancer/choreographer, actor and also visual artist Geoffrey Holder. And, Boscoe says matter-of-factly, "I taught Geoffrey everything he knows."
Early on, Holder painted primarily straightforward representations of his family and members of Trinidad's African-Caribbean working and middle classes. After visiting Martinique, his mother's homeland, he began to focus on appreciation of and respect for the traditional language of fashion, dance, confidence and poise as represented by the Creoles of that island.
His figures reflect the lithe, statuesque forms of Afro-Caribbean dancers, relaxed yet exuding natural elegance bordering on precociousness. His colors capture the warm textures of West Indian skin and the bright fabrics of Creole fashion. His landscapes are sensuous and nostalgic. In interpreting both human form and landscape, he conveys a passionate relationship with his people and his land — the beauty, the warmth, the humor, but also the pathos of lost innocence.
"Each individual is unique, and when you capture that on canvas, you have captured their essence," he says. "I love painting Caribbean people, especially women, because they are so decorative. I capture all of the Caribbean in my work — the poverty, the strong black theme, the nature and the beauty."
Although Holder contends he "was a born painter," for many years his piano had pride of place — in public perception, at least. He started out as a musician but had added painting and formed his own dance company by the time he reached his early 20s. After leaving New York in 1947, he went to Britain, where he soon acquired — there's that word again — cachet as a visual and performing artist, including forays into the embryonic medium of television. He is credited with introducing the steelband to London, in the summer of 1950.
Show notes
The mission of The Safety Zone is "to effect change through intervention, information, education, support and advocacy for the general public in regard to domestic violence, abuse and/or neglect of infants, children and adults in or outside the family unit, and to provide services to all victims of crime."
The not-for-profit agency relies on community support as well as grant funding to maintain its operations.
Prices for the artwork range from "a couple hundred dollars" to a cap of $10,000. Holder's pieces from $3,000 to $10,000. In most cases, the artists are making their work available for a 50-50 split with the Safety Zone on the price.
Tickets to Saturday's gala and Sunday's viewing may be reserved by calling 693-SAFE (693-7233) or e-mailing to The Safety Zone
For island visitors making purchases, arrangements can be made to get works packed, insured and shipped home.
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