by Simon Lee
Dreaming Well — the 7th edition of the annual Grenada Contemporary Exhibit presented by Susan Mains Gallery and the Art House 473 invited artists — and those who came to view their work — “to dream well…to dream in harmony with the archetypes rooted in the human unconscious.”
This exhortation by Gaston Bachelard (a Frenchman who followed his own advice starting as a postman in Champagne and ending up Professor of Philosophy at the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris), has many resonances for the Caribbean where dreams figure prominently in daily life not just in sleep. Whether it’s betting on a certain number in Play Whe, because you dreamed its corresponding image the night before, or organising a maroon in Carriacou because an ancestor requested it in a dream, the dream world has Caribbean currency far beyond the limitations of western psychoanalysis and Jungian archetypes.
If all this sounds complex and far removed from putting brush to canvas, as resident director of Art House 473 Asher Mains explains: “Part of the intention of these contemporary exhibits is to get our artists to think more conceptually.” This is one of the incubation strategies “for bringing our artists up to international standards.” Beyond exploring and mastering the technical skills and craft of the chosen medium — painting, sculpture, multi-media installation — local artists have been exposed in this year’s exhibit to the process of preparing for a ‘show.’ Without experience of this process, from pricing works to producing a bio, artist statement, and portfolio, any artist looking for international exposure goes unseen.
The process has so far succeeded in taking nearly 20 artists from Grenada to the high-profile Biennale de Venezia since 2013 — among them Suelin Low Chew Tung, Oliver Benoit, Frederika Adams, Asher Mains and his mother, the indomitable doyenne of Grenadian art, Susan Mains.
Now Art House 473, in its capacity as educator and facilitator, is encouraging local artists to realise their dreams and visions beyond immediate commercial constraints and the production of ‘ocean scenes.’ Some 90 artists have participated in the contemporary exhibit series so far.
The 2024 exhibit presented the works of 25 artists (ranging in age from 16-year-old Sydney Brow to several venerable octogenarians) in an amazingly diverse variety of mediums and styles, addressing topics from the serious and provocative to the amusing and abstract. Without being a spoiler but in the spirit of whetting visual, aesthetic, and conceptual appetites, here are some aperitifs.
Suelin’s fabric hanging “The Grand Plan” injects Caribbean humour and word playfulness into what for many viewers at exhibits can be an intimidating and perplexing experience. Is it OK to laugh at this serious thing called art? Humor dissolves our preconceptions and inhibitions, creating a welcoming space for us to engage with the artist’s dream. Referencing the National Lotteries slogan “Make your dreams come true” and the Play Whe numbers game association with “intuition, superstition and dreams” Suelin seriously questions the paradox of materialistic dreams and the values of our contemporary world order.
Godfrey Luke, well known for his eco sculptures/installations, takes a revelatory plunge into large paintings with “One Drop” — an intricate organic palimpsest, echoing with ancient landscapes and memories. John Henry stuns with his in-your-face hyperrealist/futuristic/expressionist “Unspoken Dreams.” Oliver Benoit’s abstract “Heritage in the Wake” embedded with scraps of text retrieved from the devastated Carriacou Museum in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, poignantly captures past dreams and present nightmares.
Susan Mains’ interrogative “Dream Well?” moves us into sombre reflective mode softened by ironic juxtaposition. Her treated Nepalese wall hanging, functions in one way like a Buddhist thangka reminding us of change, impermanence, and the illusionary nature of all dreams, including the fundamental illusion of our separate existence; but its ‘death’s head’ recalls Latin American Dia de los Muertos iconography and the very human bonding between the living and the dead in a vibrant fiesta of food, drink, music, dance and laughter. On the floor below the contemplation of “dreaming well” is a clutter of obsolete technology, the detritus of forgotten dreams.
Asher Mains’ “Puzzling“ is a brave, interactive response to being diagnosed with Type II Diabetes with its accompanying sudden weight loss, eyesight changes, and disorientation — all of which he found puzzling. Documenting his body changes, he cut the photos into puzzles, 2 of which are complete while a third invites viewers to complete in a collaborative effort to solve the daily puzzle of his life. This is collective dreaming in more uncharted territory and an invitation to all dreamers, artists and viewers alike to think more conceptually.
Susan Mains, always a mover and sometimes a shaker, is now in manifestation mode: “Way before we chose dream as a theme, we have dreamed of a National Art Gallery for Grenada. Next from dreams to reality!”
