Carol Damian: Pioneer in Caribbean and Latin American Art Scholarship
CAROL DAMIAN is an art historian, pioneer, and expert on Caribbean and Latin American art. She is the former director of the Frost Art Museum and chairperson of Florida International University’s Department of Art and Art History. Dr.Damian is also the curator of the art collection at the Chapel of La Merced in Allapattah.
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Tina Spiro: Making Waves in Miami & Jamaica
From studios in Jamaica and Miami, dynamic artist TINA SPIRO has been making large scale paintings that present her concerns with climate change and sea level rise.
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Tina-Spiro: The Deep. Oil and casein on canvas with driftwood. 120 x 90 inches. 2019.
By Zulema Peralta
Tina Spiro is well known for her sculptures and paintings that focus on environmental and humanitarian issues. One recent work is “The Deep,” a large scale painting of a whale, with a soundtrack, and a frame made of found driftwood. The piece was until recently on exhibition at the National Gallery of Jamaica. Spiro was deeply honored to discuss her work with Mrs. Margaret Kenyata, wife of Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyata. Madam Kenyata is internationally recognized for her work on behalf of women, children and endangered species. Spiro also shared her thoughts with Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Jamaican Minister of Culture, Entertainment, Gender and Sports, who hosted the private tour of the National Gallery on the occasion of the anniversary of Jamaica’s independence. The exhibition was curated by Monique Barnett Davidson, assisted by NGJ Chief Curator O’Neil Lawrence.
The soundtrack for The Deep is a duet between a humpback whale and Spiro’s granddaughter, Bella Spiro Walter, playing the cello. The overall dimensions of the painting with a Baroque driftwood frame are 120 x 90 inches. The work evokes the tension and fascination in the encounter between humanity and nature. Spiro explains that the small female diver is suspended abovethe hulk of a male Humpback whale, who eyes all of us with suspicion, and a bit of menace, as if he was saying,“I am bigger than you, take heed”, while the sea weeps.
