Jamaica Making: The Theresa Roberts Art Collection
19 February – 9 July 2022
Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool
Ashton Street
Liverpool
L69 3DR
United Kingdom
Jamaica Making: The Theresa Roberts Art Collection exhibition showcases the vibrancy and variety of contemporary Jamaican art since the country’s Independence in 1962. The exhibition features over thirty artworks from the extensive private collection of Jamaican-born entrepreneur and philanthropist Theresa Roberts.
The artworks in this exhibition show a Jamaica beyond the tourist idyll – a country with its challenges but a strong sense of identity and culture. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures and mixed-media pieces.
The exhibition features a mix of established names and emerging talent, expressing their world through a blend of painting, sculpture, photography and mixed-media.
Represented in the exhibition are the Watson dynasty of artists beginning with Barrington Watson, described as ‘the defining Jamaican artist of the post-Independence period’, his sons Basil and Raymond plus grandson Kai Watson.
Woman artists are strongly represented including important figures like Laura Facey Cooper, Ebony Patterson and Kristina Rowe.
Dr Amanda Draper, Curator of Art & Exhibition at the Victoria Gallery & Museum, said: “We are excited to be able to present this unique collection of Jamaican contemporary art to audiences in Liverpool and beyond. It reveals Jamaica’s vibrant culture and also gives the rare opportunity to see the private art collection of Theresa Roberts, an inspiring patron and philanthropist.”
Complementing the exhibition at the Victoria Gallery & Museum is `Retention of a Colonial Past’, a major contemporary textile installation by Jamaican artist Desanna Watson.
`Retention of a Colonial Past’ will beon display on the Ground Floor of LJMU’s Art & Design Building. The installation uses stitch, appliqué and quilting to replicate the contours of Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, and show how historical periods and power regimes have imposed themselves on the city. Desanna Watson will be in Liverpool as artist-in-residence 6 February – 9 March 2022.
`Jamaica Making: The Theresa Roberts Art Collection’ opens to the public on Saturday, 19 February and runs until Saturday, 9 July 2022.
©2022 Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool
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