Jan. 23, 2009 – St. Croix-based LaVaughn Belle exhibits Hideaway, a group of pencil and paper cutout pieces. Her works will be on display beginning with opening to be held from 5-8 p.m., on Thursday, Feb. 19, at Maufé Gallery, Christiansted. The show will run through March 8. Hideaway, arranged by Salt Gallery, is an extension of Belle's contribution to the Overdragelse group exhibition at Copenhagen-based artist collective Overgaden last August.
Overdragelse, which means transfer, looks at the relationship between Denmark and their former colony, the Danish West Indies, which are today's U.S. Virgin Islands, in an attempt to understand the common history and cultural heritage between Denmark and the United States, Belle was one of the curators and artists in the group exhibit and Salt Gallery is now displaying her work on St. Croix. A handmade 10-page book of cutouts is part of the exhibit and is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen. The book's images and text are taken from the real-estate Web sites and magazines popular in the V.I. that sell the islands as a fairy tale, an adventure, an escape, a hideaway.
With her work, "Collectible," Belle's color pencil drawings on paper plates mimic Danish commemorative plates from Colonial times. After her residency in Copenhagen, she was intrigued that the topic of slavery was so rarely discussed in Danish society. The viewer sees similarities between her plates and traditional Danish ceramics; there is a wry humor in the use of paper plates. Paper is a forgettable and easily disposable material, and may be a comment, perhaps, on Danish society's 'forgetting and disposing' of their history in a similar way.
LaVaughn Belle was born in Trinidad in 1974 and works in a variety of media. Her work has been displayed in Havana, New York, Copenhagen and St. Croix.
Salt Gallery is an online art gallery and project management firm based on St. Croix, representing artists from Europe, the U.S., and the Caribbean basin. Since the gallery only exists on the worldwide Web, Salt organizes openings in available spaces on St. Croix and the mainland.
For more information, contact Tomas Lanner at salt-gallery.com/word or 340-514-6664.
