Haiti: Art and Remembrance

Following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that brought much of Haiti to shambles, several thousand died and approximately 3 million are still displaced. As efforts to remove the rubble, administer necessary medical aid and distribute basic necessities such as food and water continue, in terms of future historic preservation for a country so deeply rooted in unique cultural traditions, one question remains: What about the art?

Art plays a significant role in the culture and economy of Haiti, where the majority of people live in abject poverty, in part due to an 85% unemployment rate. With few functioning institutions and outlets for self-expression, when artists paint they paint their lives. Art serves as a primary source of cultural preservation depicting spiritual practices, the connections Haitians share with their environment and their history as a people who went from the first black country to gain independence in 1808 to increased suffering under dictatorships and failed governments. Haiti is now the poorest country in the Americas.

The Centre d’Art, which launched Haiti’s Art movement in the 1940s, is severely damaged. The Musee d’Art Nader, which housed over 12,000 works from Haiti’s largest private art collection, collapsed. Murals in the Trinity Cathedral, painted by some of Haiti’s best-known artists, have crumbled.

Gerald Alexis, leading Haitian art historian and curator, notes that because of the consistent political turmoil and instability, Haiti has always had difficulty preserving its art. However, he believes its preservation is of utmost importance because art “will tell future generations who they are and where they come from. It's our heritage. And although people think that in poor countries such concepts are unnecessary, they are indeed the only thing we have. Our cultural heritage is our pride."

Collectively, several countries have pledged millions of dollars in aid over the next few years. However, amidst so much despair and chaos, the restoration and rescue of damaged art remains the responsibility of individual artists and gallery owners. Ultimately, there is no telling how much art remains irreparable. Artist Levoy Exil, whose technique includes using beets and beans to create paint, reflects on this unfortunate reality and says, “It’s a great loss for all of us. But life continues and we will continue to create.”

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Art Around Athens (and Beyond)

If you're a decorative-arts person, you will, of course, be at Robert Leath's lecture tonight (7 p.m. at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education) as part of the Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts, especially considering that it's free and open to the public (thanks to the Georgia Humanities Council). The rest of the symposium, which runs today and tomorrow, mostly at the Georgia Center, requires registration but should be a great deal of fun, as always. If for some reason you're not planning on doing all that, here are some other arts-related events going on this weekend in the Athens area and a bit beyond.

From 5 to 7 p.m., the UGA College of Environment and Design’s Circle Gallery will hold a closing reception for its exhibition "Italia," which consists of photographs and sketches of Latium, Tuscany and Venetia by professors Brian LaHaie of UGA and Clark Lundell of Auburn University. Next up at the Circle Gallery, "Plant Communities of the Trail of Tears," a collaboration between CED professor Alfie Vick’s Maymester class and the UGA Institute of Native American Studies, which runs February 3–24.


Friday, from 6 to 8 p.m., the Madison Morgan Cultural Center will hold an opening reception for the exhibition "Myths and Legends: Works on Paper by Andy Warhol," drawn from the private collection of Wes and Missy Cochran, with a gallery talk by Wes at 7 p.m. The exhibition consists of 23 silkscreened works by Warhol depicting subjects including John Wayne, Teddy Roosevelt, Super Man, Annie Oakley, John Kennedy, Mickey Mouse, the Wicked Witch of the West and Greta Garbo and will be on display through April 2.


The Lamar Dodd School of Art is hosting two opening receptions at 7 p.m. for exhibitions in its East Campus building and an open house for the jewelry and metalwork department from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Cedar St Art Annex that will show student work from intro to graduate-level courses. Opening at the Dodd proper are "@LAST: Ceramics by Arthur Gonzalez" (through February 19; image above) and "Kathy Prescott: Translucent Fusions" (through May 7). We'll let the art school describe them to you:

Dark, somber and foreboding, Arthur Gonzalez's works encourage serious deliberation and reflection on the relationship between personal concerns and world issues. Raw in form, lacking in smoothness and rough in finish, the ceramic sculptures give glimpses of a conversation or a contemplation in progress. Gonzalez's creations of ceramic and found objects reveal visions and feelings that are not polished but ongoing processes of gyrating thoughts and churning emotions that threaten to erupt into reality and consciousness to defy the fantasy of a peaceful experience.

“Drawing with other people’s marks” is the way Kathy Prescott describes her transfer collages rendered on wood board. They display her reverence for images, whether masterpieces of Western painting, nineteenth-century photographs, examples of pastry tip patterns from Martha Stewart Living or advertisements for Victoria’s Secret lingerie and Spanish cocktail olives. Even though modern technologies might come to mind, Photoshop was never even considered here. In this era of digital manipulation of images Kathy’s work is stubbornly and programmatically manual. She produces unique objects that invite meditative contemplation and capture the sense of old photographs’ melancholy. Their varnished surface gives the impression of softly filtering the light streaming from within the images, containing luminous, superimposed, inner screens. Crisp lines suspended in white space lead one’s gaze to areas of graphic flatness or volumes modeled in shades of gentle grays. Taking away the exuberance of color is a sign of the artist’s preference for understatement and self-effacement, but it is also a way of making things more complex. These essays in white, black and gray emerge as a study of the dynamic between drawing, printmaking and photography.

On Saturday, Ciné Barcafé hosts the 20th Annual Mental Health Art Auction to raise funds for Mental Health America of NE Georgia from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is free.

From 4 to 6 p.m., the Athens-Clarke County Library will have an opening reception in its Top of the Stairs Gallery for an exhibition featuring paintings by Mia Merlin. And at 8 p.m. Athens Community Theatre will host an Athens for Haiti Benefit. Admission is $5. Storytellers, dancers, musicians, teachers and an eclectic consortium of local artists have organized their talents for an exciting hodgepodge of entertainment to benefit a Haiti relief fund. There will be a silent auction of art, classes, books, jewelry, facials, antiques and more. A ways out of town, the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta is hosting its fourth annual print fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., a great opportunity to pick up some great inexpensive art.

Saving Haitian art

The earthquake in Haiti not only affected people, but also art, an important part of Haitian life. “It is difficult to talk about saving art when we must save lives,” said Haitian painter Maritou Chenet. The Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince’s main art museum, was destroyed by the earthquake along with various other galleries and museums.

Above: Maritou Chenet at the Centre d'Art. [Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times]

Haitian art is known for its symbolism, vivid colors and depictions of African culture. Paintings, sculptures and flags (or banners) are quintessential art forms in Haiti. Much of the art in these museums has been damaged or destroyed, but some pieces were spared and are now being saved out of the rubble. Fortunately, many major works were out of the country and, thus, safe.

Above: Paintings in the ruins of the Centre d'Art. [Brian Vander Brug / LA Times]

Many museums in the United States are working for the cause and hosting shows, exhibitions and benefits. The Waterloo Center for the Arts has a Haitian collection and is establishing a relief fund. The Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans is organizing “Saints, Spirits and Sequins: Art from Haiti,” a show from which proceeds will benefit Haiti relief. The Figge Art Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum are also supporting efforts.

Haitian artists who survived the earthquake are beginning to incorporate the disaster into their art, as seen in the painting below.

Above: Painting by Frantz Zephirin. [Brian Vander Brug / LA Times] 

What You Can Do for Haiti Locally

The Lamar Dodd School of Art newsletter is calling our attention to the following story:

Rob Peterson, an MFA candidate in Drawing and Painting visited Haiti for three weeks in December to participate in "The Ghetto Bienalle", an event created by the Grand Rue Resistance of Haiti, an artists' collective in Port au Prince. see: http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/12963.html

One of the artists, Guyodo, subsequently visited Athens and two days later the earthquake struck. Guyodo is here for another week while trying to get back to Haiti. Rob and Guyodo spoke to an audience of about 250 students on Thursday, January 14th.

A sale of Guyodo's work is scheduled for this coming Thursday, January 21st from 7:30 pm until 9:30 pm at The Hangar (486 Barber St. Directions: go north on Barber and it will be your last left before the train tracks) to enable Guyodo to return to his country.

Come and meet Guyodo and please consider this unique opportunity to support Guyodo during the ongoing tragedy that unfolds in Haiti.

Here's a Google Map to The Hangar.