| Broadway Gallery NYC’s recent exhibition, Caymanian in New York, a joint exhibition by husband and wife artists, Gordon and Alta E. Solomon—both of whom hail from the glorious Cayman Islands—was a vibrant and sensitive installation of imagery that brought the magic of the Cayman Islands straight to the Big Apple. |  |
Jill Smith on Gordon and Alta E. Solomon
Broadway Gallery NYC’s recent exhibition, Caymanian in New York, a joint exhibition by husband and wife artists, Gordon and Alta E. Solomon—both of whom hail from the glorious Cayman Islands—was a vibrant and sensitive installation of imagery that brought the magic of the Cayman Islands straight to the Big Apple. Aimed at “awaken[ing] the heritage of [the Caymanian] people through contemporary art… [and] correcting and challenging those who say the Cayman Islands has no culture,” the exhibition displayed both Gordon’s striking painting and sculpture, and Alta’s distinguished photography.
Gordon Solomon’s first series of paintings, called Majestic Tradition, was reminiscent of Monet, (had Monet, like Gauguin, travelled across the ocean to an island locale). Yet, Gordon’s perspective is one of a native son, rather than a colonizer, a fact that shines through in these images of local maritime culture. His impasto application of oil paint gives his images a rich, almost pointillist feel, and renders the sense of dappled sunlight so common in the Cayman Islands. Similarly, his Majestic Tradition series details the daily life and culture of the Caymans. From schooners on sun-drenched seas, to local fishermen participating in their native travails, to vivid sunsets illuminating ancient trees in silhouette, these images capture the treasures and simple life that is abundant on the Caymans. Of note, Swanky 1,2,3, a colorful triptych, presents vivacious dancers in traditional red, blue, and yellow skirts joyously swaying to folk music on the beach, a testament to the vibrancy of local culture.
Equally as riveting, yet executed in a divergent style and technique, is his exquisite The Sexes series, depicting the healing balance between male and female energies, executed in a drip painting technique. Two standout images are The Nurturer, an abstract image of swirling black-and-white drips upon a hazy ground of mauve, ochre, sherbet, and sea green, and Healing Love, an abstraction of a brown and a white figure floating on an azure ocean-like aura surrounded by an orange and yellow haze. Drawing to mind both Kandinsky and Pollack, such images stay with you long after you’ve left the exhibition, attesting to the power of his depiction of sexual energies.
Similarly, his sculptural work, made from carving the roots of trees found on the islands, is entitled The Art of War. These sinuous forms, much like his paint strokes in The Sexes series, are evocative of powerful and deep-rooted emotional states. It is also obvious Gordon Solomon is a musician when confronting his abstract painting series, Mindscapes. Images such as Mastering, a geometric assembly of colorful shapes is reminiscent of Delaunay’s geometric abstractions, and brings to mind the vibrant music of the Cayman Islands.
Meanwhile, Alta Gordon’s photographic series Birth, Beauty, and Rest, also on view, depicts the people and places of the Cayman Islands from a different perspective. Her images, such as her color photographs, A Flower Blooms, The Walk of Innocence, and Upon Her Shoulders, depict the glorious children of the islands, pinning all the hopes and dreams of the Caymans’ future upon these precious beings. Most moving, however, is the black-and-white image, He hath founded it upon the seas, the national slogan found on the national seal. The image, the pregnant belly of a woman exposed as it emerges from the seawater, symbolizes the future of the country in another poignant and touching way.
In concert, these images display a sense of harmony and love, and show that the spirit of the Caymans and its people is one of companionship, hard work, and lots and lots of play. Bringing this spirit to New York, Gordon and Alta E. Solomon have mounted an inspiring show that has brought a little island sunshine into the overstressed, gray, and drab lives of every New Yorker.
