From the PMA Magazine: Fragments of Epic Memory
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Through fragmented glimpses, we are reminded that our collective memory is an interwoven tapestry of existence, connecting us in ways seen and unseen.
OCTOBER 6, 2023 TO JANUARY 7, 2024
Leasho Johnson (born Montego Bay, Jamaica, 1984), Jaw bone (man looking back at the cane fields), 2019, charcoal, watercolor, distemper, acrylic, oil stick, oil paint on canvas, 24 × 30 × 1 3/4 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds from Friends of Global Africa and the Diaspora, 2021. 2021/30. © Leasho Johnson. Photo © AGO.
Fragments of Epic Memory is an immersive encounter with the Caribbean and its diaspora that vividly intertwines past and present, memory and myth, and continuity and change, creating a testament to the enduring power of art to illuminate the complexities of personal experience.
From the streets of Jamaica to the shores of Trinidad and Tobago, Fragments of Epic Memory connects, contextualizes, and complicates historical depictions of the Caribbean region as a place for colonial profit and tourist pleasures. By combining historical and contemporary materials, the exhibition transforms stagnant and biased narratives into multifaceted and revelatory ways of understanding the region’s history. Fragments of Epic Memory recenters the narrative from the dynamic perspectives of the Caribbean diaspora.
Captivating contemporary works from leading artists of Caribbean descent are placed in dialogue with more than 100 photographs from the Art Gallery of Ontario’s (AGO) Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs, which document the emergence of photography alongside the unfolding of emancipation. The Montgomery Collection includes over 3,500 historical images from 34 countries, and primarily focuses on the aftermath of enslavement in the region. British emancipation in the Caribbean (1838) coincided almost exactly with the invention and proliferation of photographic technologies (1839), and this unique collection provides a visual archive of colonialism, evoking new ways to consider the region's histories and cultures.
Sandra Brewster (born Toronto, Canada, born 1973), Feeding Trafalgar Square, 2021, photo-based gel transfer, acrylic on wood, overall: 120 x 130 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Commission, with funds from the Women's Art Initiative, 2021. 2021/71. © Sandra Brewster. Photo © AGO.
Photographs, paintings, and video installations by a multigenerational group of artists such as Sandra Brewster, Vanley Burke, Christopher Cozier, Jeannette Ehlers, Nadia Huggins, Leasho Johnson, Ebony G. Patterson, Peter Dean Rickards, Paul Anthony Smith, and Rodell Warner, engage with legacies of slavery, environmental decimation, and ongoing colonial power dynamics, ultimately platforming Caribbean perspectives. Each piece comes together in a multifaceted presentation of the Caribbean as a site of cultural exchange and self-determination. Fragments of Epic Memory is as much an exploration of what was lost as what has survived.
Through these fragmented glimpses, we are reminded that our collective memory is an interwoven tapestry of existence, connecting us in ways seen and unseen.
Unknown, Family at Home, Blue Mountains, Jamaica, circa 1890, albumen print, 9 3/4 × 13 11/16 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Patrick Montgomery, through the American Friends of the Art Gallery of Ontario Inc., 2019. 2019/3075. Photo © AGO.
Unknown, Martinique Woman, circa 1890, albumen print, 5 3/4 × 4 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Purchase, with funds from Dr. Liza & Dr. Frederick Murrell, Bruce Croxon & Debra Thier, Wes Hall & Kingsdale Advisors, Cindy & Shon Barnett, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Phil Lind & Ellen Roland, Martin Doc McKinney, Francilla Charles, Ray & Georgina Williams, Thaine & Bianca Carter, Charmaine Crooks, Nathaniel Crooks, Andrew Garrett & Dr. Belinda Longe, Neil L. Le Grand, Michael Lewis, Dr. Kenneth Montague & Sarah Aranha, Lenny & Julia Mortimore, and The Ferrotype Collective, 2019. 2019/2208. Photo © AGO.
Unknown, Emancipation Day, Jamaica, August 1, circa 1895, two gelatin silver prints, overall: 11 9/16 × 9 7/16 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Patrick Montgomery, through the American Friends of the Art Gallery of Ontario Inc., 2019. 2019/2704. Photo © AGO.
Unknown, White River, Jamaica, circa 1915, gelatin silver print, 8 1/8 × 10 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Purchase, with funds from Dr. Liza & Dr. Frederick Murrell, Bruce Croxon & Debra Thier, Wes Hall & Kingsdale Advisors, Cindy & Shon Barnett, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Phil Lind & Ellen Roland, Martin Doc McKinney, Francilla Charles, Ray & Georgina Williams, Thaine & Bianca Carter, Charmaine Crooks, Nathaniel Crooks, Andrew Garrett & Dr. Belinda Longe, Neil L. Le Grand, Michael Lewis, Dr. Kenneth Montague & Sarah Aranha, Lenny & Julia Mortimore, and The Ferrotype Collective, 2019. 2019/266. Photo © AGO.
Felix Morin (French, active 1869 – 1896), Calabash Tree, Trinidad, circa 1890, albumen print, 14 × 11 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Purchase, with funds from Dr. Liza & Dr. Frederick Murrell, Bruce Croxon & Debra Thier, Wes Hall & Kingsdale Advisors, Cindy & Shon Barnett, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Phil Lind & Ellen Roland, Martin Doc McKinney, Francilla Charles, Ray & Georgina Williams, Thaine & Bianca Carter, Charmaine Crooks, Nathaniel Crooks, Andrew Garrett & Dr. Belinda Longe, Neil L. Le Grand, Michael Lewis, Dr. Kenneth Montague & Sarah Aranha, Lenny & Julia Mortimore, and The Ferrotype Collective, 2019. 2019/382. Photo © AGO.
Fragments of Epic Memory is curated by Julie Crooks, PhD, Curator, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The Portland Museum of Art’s presentation is organized by Anjuli Lebowitz, PhD, the Judy Glickman Lauder Associate Curator of Photography. It is the first exhibition organized by the AGO’s new Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora. Fragments blends historical and contemporary narratives through more than 100 photographs from the AGO’s Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs alongside paintings and video works by modern and contemporary artists from the Caribbean and its diaspora.
Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario
This exhibition is part of Art for All
Art for All supports the PMA's dedication to being an open, accessible, inclusive, and welcoming museum for all, through exhibitions and programs that reflect our community and create experiences with art that strengthen our bonds and bring us together.
