Handwerker Gallery to Feature Works of Jamaican Artists

The Handwerker Gallery will present In the Fullness of Time, an exhibit that reflects the many facets of Jamaican culture and identity. Featuring the work of 19 sculptors, painters, and photographers, the show will open on Thursday, August 30, and run through October 14. It is free and open to the public.

Situated between Spanish-speaking Cuba to the north, French-speaking Haiti to the east, and the British Caymans to the northwest, Jamaica sits at a geographic and cultural crossroad. From the native Taino culture to the conquering Euro-peans who imported Africans to work the plantations to contemporary tourist enterprises, island culture has experienced centuries of change and redefinition by outside forces as well as internal shifts in economics and politics.

These changes have found a powerful range of expression in contemporary Jamaican art that, until recently, has not reached audiences outside the island. In the four decades since the end of colonial rule, Jamaican artists have moved toward a sense of identity rooted in the Caribbean experience. Taking inspiration from such sources as religion, folklore, Africa, popular culture, music, and politics, Jamaican artists have quietly developed a vital visual language. The skill these artists show in communicating their visions to an international audience is informed by their experiences of growing up in a country that is both a homeland and a point of passage.

The exhibition has been organized and circulated by the Karl Drerup Gallery and Exhibition Programs, Plymouth State College, in partnership with the Jamaican Artists Alliance. In the Fullness of Time is sponsored by the Ithaca College Diversity Awareness Committee and the Office of the Provost.

The Handwerker Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (Thursday until 9:00 p.m.); Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.; and Sunday, 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

For more information call the gallery at 274-3018 or contact Jelena Stojanovic, gallery director and assistant professor of art history, at 274-3548.