| Promoting the
Spirit of African Visual Art: Afrikan Business & Cultural Quarterly Vol. 2 NO. 16 2001 © 2001 ABAC |
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| The internationally renowned artist Bernard Stanley Hoyes is certainly an artist with soul, "My challenge is to master unique compositions of spiritual significance. I desire to visually engross the viewer through powerful expressive works. I paint from an intuitive point of view. During this process the "spirits take possession" and a ritual theme becomes dominant. I attained my insight through my Jamaican heritage and my paternal membership in the "revival cults"(en Afro-Christian sect with strong African roots) provide clues as to why these paintings are perceived as authentic revelations." | |||
| Already a natural seasoned artist at the age of 15. Bernard left Kingston Jamaica in 1966 for New York, USA to further develop his creative talent. Then later moved to California, Los Angeles where he formalized his art education receiving a B.F.A Degree in Painting and Graphic Design. The Spiritual depth, vibrancy and value of Bernard's art have stunned audiences from all over the world wherever his work is exhibited. Some of his original works and commissions are amongst the corporate and private collections of Jamaica School of Art, Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, N.Y, Capitol Records, Hollywood CA, Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Cole, Richard Pryor, just to name a few. During his first visit to the UK in July 2001, Bernard's work was showcased at a number of exhibitions in and around London. Ms. Yana Richards who was present at one of the exhibits commented, "I felt his work, which is a rarity for me when it comes to art. This is what makes me know what I'm seeing is vary real." | |||
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In an interview with ABAC
Bernard Hoyes talked about the development of the African visual art industry in regards
to the challenges existing and new artists face in promoting their work within a European
dominated market. "It is important that artists of African descent keep our connections open to the mainstream art world through the local museums and galleries whilst developing our own cultural markets. This will allow us to keep abreast of what's happening as much as possible. We have to look at how we market ourselves as one of the main reasons why we are not making as big an impact as we should within the mainstream art word. We cannot just depend on the niche market of the black community, as we all |
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"I have been a creator of art, symbols of ancestral echoes since a child in Jamaica... The images I convey symbolize a culmination of these ancestral echoes brought to a classical form. They are Contemporary, eternal in spirit are stare as praise to our existence - past, present and future. The whole thing about the Caribbean is it's so richly African. It's been a little cocoon where things African were given a chance." |
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should be trying to elevate everyone with our work. When things at
large happen in the world we are all affected, but we are the ones who usually don't have
any ways and means to make corrections. Things just happen and we become disillusioned and
cut off, hence we must pursue the mainstream as well as cur own markets so that we can
affect a positive change in the world. |
 Spiritual Climax |
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We are playing in their game on their field and we are always like the
visiting team where we have to play harder and have enough support from our own community.
In most instances they might choose one black artist to play within the mainstream, but we
have to constantly bombard them with more than one. |
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 Marcus Garvey |
Traditionally Africans did not value their
own arts the way Europeans do. You'll find that the Europeans value and importance of the
arts from Africa is only connected through a colonial interest. Many of the historical
cultural arts from Africa are now in European hands. We may not be able to go back in time
and undo what's already been taken out of Africa but what we can do today is understand
were our culture is right now and safeguard that for the future.
Within the mainstream art world the financial value of art does not necessarily come from the art itself but who is the financial community, how much excess cash they have and how well that communities economy is doing. After they invest so much |
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in real estate, the stock market, bonds, etc what else do they do? The tradition has been to invest in art. In most cases what gives the artist value is the status of the individual and the rarity of a particular artists work, which now gives the artist credibility and collectability. Art then serves as an asset to the culture that has to be invested in for prosperity. One of the main reasons why black people don't support their own black artists enough is that the majority of black people don't value their own cultural heritage. Most of the money that is being made by black people is within the entertainment industry and they are usually the last ones to get into the black arts. The popular black media is just not doing enough to promote cur own cultural arts to raise the awareness within our communities. There are many contemporary artists like myself that need to be documented. It's definitely an educational thing. We need more expertise such as writers and philosophers critiquing and exploring what's going on within our culture whether in the UK, USA or wherever. |
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 Moonlight Spiritual |
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Every fifty years or so the whole international art scene shifts. At the turn of the century, Paris, France was the center of the art world, by the fifties it had shift to New York and now it has shifted to the UK. The local black artist in the UK must realize this and jump onto it otherwise it will pass them by. In order to take the black visual arts forward we have to have feeding
grounds for development and showcasing of the arts. The more we have the prevalent it will
become and the more of a chance the people will get behind and support it. By its very
nature art is a unifying thing that rallies people together. But it only happens when we
find ways of conveying it through having more places such as galleries and community
centers. Bernard Hoyes will be exhibiting his work at
the National Black Fine Art Show, |
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