Karl Parboosingh - Jamaican Gothic (1968), A.D. Scott Collection, NGJ
"Religion, colour and racial pride were recurrent themes in his work. Jamaican Gothic (1968), was quite likely a parody of the painting American Gothic (1930) by American painter, Grant Wood. Here Parboosingh’s paint application greatly contrasts with its American counterpart in striving to bring forward a view of Jamaican social realism as oppose to a re-iteration of European social ideology. The seated figures, a woman and two children, emerge from a melee of erratic brushstrokes. Their environment unrefined yet reflective of a struggle to survive. Their facial identities are obscured and irrelevant yet their racial identity is poignantly present through the emboldened use of black. The warmth of reds and yellows further support an energetic feel to the composition and context. A similar yet more aggressive palette composes Ras Smoke I (1973). The obstinate stare of the depicted Rastafarian and his pipe implies the defiance of the Rastafarian sub-culture to conventionally accepted colonial norms and ideas. Production as a route to nation building is explored in the painting, Cement Company (1966). Hard outlines and solid rigid shapes characterize the industrial-themed work, dividing the canvas into sections or planes. Such a painting could be seen as a precursor to later works of abstraction such as Flight to Egypt(1974) and Industrial Abstraction (c. 1975). In these examples, Parboosingh takes a stylized approach to the use of basic and solid line, shape and colour to communicate subjects and themes, quite different from his previous examples of representation."To read more about Karl Parboosingh and other Jamaican artists, please visit National Gallery of Jamaica Blog:
Image source for Jamaican Gothic: http://nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/jamaicas-art-pioneers-karl-parboosingh-1923-1975/
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