The Fourth National Exhibition (NE4)

The Fourth National Exhibition (NE4) opened last week to the public on July 9th, 2008. My wife and I flew over to Nassau for the opening on July 8th.

The National Exhibition is a sort of biennial art exhibition held at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, in Nassau. The exhibit showcases the the best of contemporary Bahamian art. From over 300 submitted pieces, the jury concluded their review process and chose fifty-one works by thirty-one artists. In my first year entering, I am proud to say two of those works are mine. The artwork represents a vast diversity of art which range from photography, painting, sculptures, mixed media, installation, video, and prints. The show had a great turnout and the exhibit was extraordinary.

The jury was headed up by the curator of The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas Ms. Erica James. Two of my black and white Fine Bahamian Landscapes were chosen; "The edge of where the ocean meets the land" and "Tree with termite mound #2". I had entered three works (the maximum allowed). The third image was "Regatta Sloop, Rolleville", a very iconic, yet stereotypical image of the Bahamas. After my immediate joy of finding out that not one, but two of my images were chosen for the show, I pondered why it was those two and not the third.



Before this opening, I had never even set foot in the NAGB, but from the moment I walked into the Gallery, my questions were answered. The show was much more modern and contemporary than I, and especially my wife had expected. My two, rather traditional works sat amongst a grouping of very unstereotypical Bahamian works. They chose to view me as what I hoped they would see, a landscape photographer. It was a very humbling moment to witness the state of the Bahamian art scene in such a mature and proud light.

My wife and I had a great mini two day vacation, and had a wonderful time at the opening. We spent the next day floating down the lazy river at Atlantis.