About this event
The National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) is pleased to partner with the Edna Manley College’s 2015 Rex Nettleford Arts Conference to present a panel discussion on the various critical issues addressed by the artists in its current Young Talent 2015 exhibition.
The panel discussion will take place at the NGJ on Friday, October 16, 2015 from 11 am to 12:30 pm. Featured artists Greg Bailey, Alicia Brown, Katrina Coombs, Monique Gilpin, Domanie Hong, Howard Myrie, Richard Nattoo, Avagaye Osborne and Cosmo Whyte will be present to discuss their bodies of work and the panel will be moderated by the NGJ’s Senior Curator O'Neil Lawrence, and Assistant Curator Monique Barnett-Davidson.
The NGJ has intermittently held Young Talent exhibitions since 1985 when Jamaica hosted the International Youth Conference. The fifth in that series held in 2010 was a ground-breaking exhibition featured artists such as Ebony G. Patterson, Phillip Thomas, Leasho Johnson and Oneika Russell who have dramatically changed the Jamaican artistic landscape. Its spin off exhibition New Roots in 2013 featured artists such as Matthew McCarthy, Olivia McGilchrist, Camille Chedda and Deborah Anzinger and brought to the fore a new set of voices willing to break down the barriers between artist and viewing public experimenting with greater interactivity.
The current emerging contemporary artistic language is represented in this exhibition by a healthy range of media from traditional painting and fibre based work to more experimental forms such ads GIF collages. The artists in Young Talent 2015 all show a willingness to experiment within their media as well as engage with the difficult issues, such as gender violence, social dysfunction, forced migration and marginalization, within the current social environment.
The Young Talent 2015 exhibition opened on August 30 and continues until November 14, 2015, is in keeping with the NGJ’s mandate to support artistic development and to provide opportunities for young artists. Due to the current innovative spirit and energy within Jamaica’s contemporary art scene, the NGJ plans to hold this exhibition every two years.
Admission to the NGJ will be free on October 16 and free guided tours of the Young Talent 2015 exhibition will be offered before and after the panel discussion. Conference registration is not required to attend this panel discussion.
For more information on the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference, please visit http://www.emcartsconference.org/.