Dancing to a complex beat: Delving behind the Jamaican smile

Associated media

A makeshift hairdressing salon and life-sized falling dominoes feature in part two of 'I Is AnOther' – a New Art Exchange, Nottingham, exhibition exploring issues surrounding contemporary notions of identity by celebrating Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence.

Through a presentation of the best contemporary talent in sculpture, painting, installation, film and video from across the diverse Jamaican diaspora, part two of 'I is AnOther' shifts focus from addressing the impact of ancestral and historical influences on identity, as identified in part one; to the impact of an environment on a sense of self – especially the immigrant experience.

Internationally renowned art critic and historian Edward Lucie-Smith will lead discussions surrounding Jamaican contemporary art and help launch part two of the exhibition which, according to 'I is AnOther' curator Rachael Barrett, provides a timely call for an independence of critical thought with regard to the island’s rich artistic community. She said:

Cultural stereotypes prevail in which indigenous food is never considered fine cuisine; locally made fashion cannot compete as couture; and local art fights classification as that more lowly cousin, craft.

Part one of 'I Is AnOther', launched in September, comprised work by Storm Saulter – initiator of the pioneering New Caribbean Cinema; painter Hurvin Anderson – currently featured within the Liverpool Biennial, as well as work by installation artist Nari Ward, who is exhibiting for the first time in the UK following his exhibition at Mass MOCA, USA. Part two of 'I Is AnOther' introduces to the exhibition work by mixed media artist Ebony G. Patterson, who is presenting in the UK for the first time, as well as photographer/filmmaker Peter Dean Rickards. Part two will also include additional works from Hurvin Anderson and Nari Ward.

The environments, presented in part two of 'I is AnOther', highlight the impact of poverty, crime, racial stereotyping and cross-cultural assimilation on post-modern understandings of the self.

For example Ebony G. Patterson’s work, which focuses on the Tivoli Gardens community in West Kingston, Jamaica – where the legacy of violence and drugs is deeply rooted – reflects on the death of 73 alleged members of the community in order to examine rituals of beauty, celebration and death in a marginalized and misunderstood community.

Skinder Hundal, Chief Executive of New Art Exchange, said he hopes the public will absorb the content of 'I is AnOther' to help understand, not only an evolving Jamaican identity, but also the influence of stereotype and archetype in shaping a contemporary notion of the self. He said:

While 'I is AnOther' celebrates and critiques Jamaican national identity, I hope audiences also absorb the universal conundrum of perceived identity versus the self-expression of identity presented in these works.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 1 November, 7 p.m.  Rachael Barrett of Three Sixty Degrees, curator of 'I is AnOther', in conversation with internationally renowned art critic and historian Edward Lucie Smith for: Culturally Commercial: Curatorial challenges faced in mapping the future of Caribbean art in a commercial and international contemporary context.

 New Art Exchange, 39 – 41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 6BE

About New Art Exchange

Launched in September 2008, New Art Exchange is a contemporary visual arts space with the objective of stimulating new perspectives on the value of diversity within art and society. Recent and forthcoming exhibitors include Zarina Bhimji, Rashid Rana, Christian Marclay, Elizabeth Price (British Art Show 7), Hetain Patel, Zineb Sedira, Leo Asemota, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Raghu Rai and Harminder Singh Judge. The venue is a landmark arts facility that celebrates the region’s cultural richness and diversity, placing contemporary arts practice at the very heart of an international community.