Premier Fashion Event Adds 120-piece Fine Art Show to its Offering

Art on the Run, a collaborative project involving the art and fashion sectors, will next week unveil two major tiers which have resulted from that collaboration – a Runway Collection of fascinating art/fashion designs and an Art Gallery which will show off the work of approximately 40 of Jamaica’s finest artists. 

The unveiling will take place during the 2009 staging of Pulse International’s celebrated Caribbean Fashion Week (CFW) at the National Indoor Sports Centre – with the Runway Collection taking over the stage on Saturday, June 13, but with the Art Gallery offerings available for public viewing and purchase over the entire three-day CFW weekend from June 12 – 14.

The 40 artists who will show their work in the Art Gallery are expected to display in excess of 120 pieces at CFW – creating an Art Gallery setting in three major areas of the venue where the foremost CFW activities take place, but with some of the pieces also being placed strategically around the venue. “This layout of the Art Collection will significantly enhance the aesthetics of the venue.  At the same time, it will serve as an immersion-in-the-arts opportunity for persons attending the 3-day Caribbean Fashion Week – exposing them in a unique manner to the wealth of Jamaica’s fine arts talent,” said Art on the Run conceptualizer and project manager, Jennifer Sharrier.

Among the artists will be some of Jamaica’s best known. They include experienced and internationally-acclaimed artist and art instructor Raymond Watson, who has lived and worked in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom and who currently has sculptures located in Kingston, Port of Spain and London – including “The First Child”, which may be found in Max Roach Park, Brixton. His work explores the human condition, the paradoxes in society and contradictions inherent in the individuals.

Following is a close up of some of the other artists who will show in the Art on the Run Art Gallery at Caribbean Fashion Week ’09:

Impressionistic artist, Ewan McAnuff, uses oil on canvas as his medium.  This talented artist employs a wide range of subtle colours to create a soft, sensitive quality in his work. Thematically, his paintings reflect a synthesis of portraits, landscapes and street scenes and, although subtle, often carry a hint of social commentary.

Ruth Francis is a dynamic Textile Designer whose work reflects her Jamaican heritage, wide travel experience, eclectic background and design education. Her focus is on screen printing and mixed media and she currently works as an Independent Designer in London, UK.  Trained in Textiles/Fashion and also possessing a deep interest in art education and in film, Francis has exhibited her work in the United Kingdom, in Washington DC and New York in the USA, as well as in the Caribbean.

The youngest artist exhibiting – 16-year-old Laura-Ann Fung – is a student at Hillel Academy, where she is studying Art for the International Baccalaureate Examination. Although she usually works in acrylic paint – using bright, vibrant colours – she also likes to incorporate other media, such as tissue paper, cotton and stones. She is currently experimenting with new techniques, using brush and palette knife.

Fitz Mitchell first studied engineering and worked as an auto mechanic at a friend’s garage. Influenced and tutored by another friend for about three years in wood carving, Mitchell is now a full time artist whose carvings are exhibited in several galleries.  He has also had several solo exhibitions and group shows – with the most notable being Barita Investments, Faculty of Social Sciences, U.W.I and, most recently, the Caribbean Gift & Craft show in Barbados.

Rohan Woodhouse is gradually making a name for himself as a painter of photo realism. His portraits of clients have caused much debate, as on-lookers try to discern whether his work is a photograph or a painting.  Woodhouse, who is a self taught artist, started painting professionally in October 2000.

Born in St. Mary, Errol Walker is a self-taught artist who has received numerous awards, including several awarded in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) National Fine Arts Competition and Exhibition between 1985 and 2003.

Mazola Wa Mwashighadi is a multi-media artist who was born in Kenya but who now lives and works in Stony Hill, Jamaica. A Commonwealth Art and Craft award recipient for the African region, Mazola attended Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts as part of that programme. He has participated in major solo and group shows in Kenya, Uganda, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Trinidad, U.S.A., UK, Italy and Bangladesh. His work can be found in private and corporate collections worldwide.

Facilitators of the Art on the Run project consist of the Visual & Performing Arts Jamaica (VPAJ) cluster, which is hosted within Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI); the Jamaica Fashion & Apparel Cluster (JFAC), for which the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) provides major institutional support; Pulse Investments Ltd., a pioneer of several aspects of Jamaica’s fashion and entertainment industry; JTI, Jamaica’s investment and Export Promotion Agency; JBDC, provider of business and technical support services for Jamaican businesses; and the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) – a European Union/Government of Jamaica-funded programme, which was created to address specific challenges facing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME’s) and their support organizations.  The programme is using the cluster approach to help stimulate new and innovative business practices and to help firms working along a value chain to better resolve group issues and maximize on common opportunities.