We rounded off 2019 with a mixed exhibition of art from Haiti and from Russian artist Bazhena Kutergina.
Downstairs we had Alasdair Gray’s giclees on show again. Another popular opportunity to access Alasdair’s much loved art in its more accessible limited run signed print form.
In the main gallery we had beaded works from Haiti by Jean Baptiste Jean Joseph, and were reshowing some of Haitian Frankétienne’s wonderful paintings and eighteen of Russian artist Bazhena Kutergina’s original drawings.
Jean Baptiste Jean Joseph was born in 1967 in La Vallé Bainet and was raised in Croix-des-Bouquets, a community known for its metal artisans in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. At a young age Jean Baptiste developed a passion folk art and textiles. Following his passion for beadwork, he worked in a small factory where he honed his skills by sewing pearls and beads onto wedding dresses. Then in 1991, thanks to a small loan from a friend, Jean Baptiste opened Isidor Gallery in Croix-des-Bouquets
Fast forward two decades, and Jean Baptiste’s beadwork is known world-wide. Besides his famous vodou flags, Jean Baptiste and his fellow artisans make purses, bags, vodou dolls, and various other handicrafts.
Original drawings by Russian artist Bazhena Kutergina
Bazhena Kutergina was born in St Petersburg, Russia. She graduated from St Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design (equivalent to a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree).
Bazhena worked as an artist at a blown glass factory in St Petersburg, Russia from 2001 to 2014 where she worked predominantly with blown glass created for exhibitions and Russian art galleries. In 2012-2013 she was invited to take part in TV and radio programs about art glass. Now she works as a glass and ceramics conservator at the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.
Paintings by Frankétienne
Frankétienne started to paint in 1970, and has exhibited regularly throughout his career. In the early stages his work was influenced by American artists particularly Jackson Pollock, but by the early 1980s he had developed his own distinctive and authentic style, which combines figurative forms with abstract structures. Frank writes in French and Creole. His was the first novel written in Creole in the sometimes troubled Caribbean republic that broke away from France in 1803, defeating Napoleon’s armies a dozen years before Waterloo.
This was the second exhibition of Frank’s work, the previous one in 2014 was shared with his contemporary, Alasdair Gray.
