Nel Figueroa’s Flexingx - La Puerta Borrosa is a joyous, immensely unique exhibition of work that strikes the nucleus of Caribbean identity through a glitched-out lens of nostalgia, wonderment, and satire. The artist incorporates the familiar icons of fruit, birds, and anatomy amongst scenes of nature, industry, and cultural phenomenon. Flexingx - La Puerta Borrosa is an invigorating journey into the surreal gateways of one of Puerto Rico’s most intriguing creative minds.
-The Curators, 81C
“Maxim Kovalsky’s recent collection of oil paintings portrays a remarkable presence of color and light amongst an environment portrayed from dawn to dusk in the Virgin Islands. His creations depict natural scapes which glow and fade against shadows, the ocean’s tide, and billowy mountains, producing a semblance of persuasive and infinite patterns. Viewers are immersed in scenes both familiar and mystifying. Reminiscent of the works of Camille Pissarro and Francisco Oller, Impressionist Reflections in Oil is an intimate journey through the natural light and color of the Caribbean.” -The Curators, 81C
Jared Shomo’s Element is a collection of surreal infrared photography offering viewers a dreamlike take on the U.S. Virgin Islands. A nearly futuristic force is at work within these images, which span sea, land, and society. Trees become silver and blue explosions. Ocean appears nearly black until its transformation to gold at shore. Dancers have taken to the streets in celebration beneath a sunburnt, smoke filled sky. Element is a vision, a reflection, and a portal. This exhibition is Jared Shomo’s second full scale show at 81C in Charlotte Amalie.-The curators, 81C
In an extraordinary display of color and detail, this exhibition is comprised of fine English porcelain butterfly sculptures, hand-crafted by artist Nicole Stewart. Collected globally, the artist's work incorporates the fastidious process of custom mold-work and hand mixed pigments. A forty piece array, the works are each encased in elegant light-gold frames, which wrap the walls of 81C's main gallery and create a bold yet mysterious journey into the ethereal. -The Curators, 81C
“From Here” unveils the soulful artistry of Virgin Islands photographer Sycroix (Sharimar Cruz). This collection is a profound exploration of home, identity and the transient nature of time. Merging the candid spirit of street photography with intimate portraiture, Sycroix captures moments that are both fleeting and eternal. Each image, steeped in the rich hues of vintage film and the vibrant tapestry of culture, tells a story of belonging, resilience and the beauty of the everyday. As viewers immerse themselves in the work, they are invited on a journey of reflection, remembrance and realization. This exhibition is a celebration of life’s intricacies, a testament to the power of home and an homage to perfect discoveries when time and place collide. – The Curators, 81C
“Out There And In Here” allows viewers to discover places they always wanted to go, places they’ve already been, and places washed from consciousness ages ago that have returned to memory — obscure and enigmatic but with purpose. A fever dream of buildings, human interactions, shadowy realms. These friendly yet haunting pieces describe the half-remembered images or feelings of an imagination working closely through the poetic process of recognition, safety and construction (of all things). Symbols and ritualistic patterns dot the borders of buildings — or the mind — as animals and plants sit, as though in observation of their mysterious human figure counterparts. This summer exhibition by Brooklyn-based Mancini is pertinent and oddly encouraging; it gives life to the shadows within us, asks questions, and trusts viewers to provide their answers – all of which will surely be true. -The Curators, 81C
Contemporary Virgin Islands artist Indra Lovely’s new full-scale exhibition Essence explores adventurousness in spirit and pursuit of the unknown, asking viewers to consider that at times mystery can become an unexpected guiding force, and that elevation throughout the process of life is subjective and ever-changing. This mixed media collection ultimately speaks to the process of an artist navigating personal experience, interpretation, and growth. A St. Thomas based artist, Indra Lovely’s Essence is a distinctive exhibition of colors, poetic tones, and intrigue. -The Curators, 81C
Turquoise Flux features twenty paintings by Water Island based artists Colleen Tapp and Art Lafranchise. Working with natural, oceanic themes, and depicting aquatic underworlds, ecosystems, and interactions between humans, plants, land, and water, viewers experience layered blues and greens, glowing horizons, and curious auras. Turquoise Flux is a beautiful homage to the dreamy offshore world we call the ocean and the sea. - The Curators, 81C
With pulses of symmetry, wrought iron, and blue earth, we can find poetry and romanticism within Mujer Isla - An Abstract Collection, by Natalia Benet. Roses orbiting a molten universe. Life in a tropical dreamscape beset with colonial architecture.
The abstract configurations that constitute Ms. Benet’s Mujer Isla (Lady Island) are deeply personal reflections on coming of age in a Puerto Rican landscape, exemplifying how our environment can create and define an ethereal personal journey.
Using nature as a muse to explore an era of modernity, Mujer Isla offers viewers unique sentiment and observations, and asks questions about life pursuits through an abstract Antillean eye. - The Curators, 81C
God is a Woman, the Photographs of St. Croix’s Lia Garvey features work by a young analogue film photographer producing on her own artistic terms. An alluring variety of timeless, grainy, black and white, sepia-tinged, and worldly images, with unique bohemian elegance and featuring powerful female subjects, one cannot help but consider how long it will be before Ms. Garvey plunges into professional fashion photography; she seems to effortlessly capture the sprezzatura and ambiance many photographers stylistically dream of. With God is a Woman, Ms. Garvey shares a gifted, honest eye, and emerges as a most promising Virgin Islands artistic talent. - The Curators, 81C
81C celebrates two years of operations in town with META, a group art exhibition of fine art, honoring the many artists who have shown work at the gallery in the past 730 days. Featuring photography, paintings, and sculpture, META signifies a flourishing and dynamic arts community collaborating in historic Charlotte Amalie. - The Curators, 81C
Juan Carlos Amador returns to 81C in historic Charlotte Amalie with Transchromatico, An Homage to Camille Pissarro. This exhibition is inspired by and explores recurrent themes in time and nature. It also reflects inspirational friendships rooted in artistic pursuits. Amador’s distinctive color palette and abstract vision are familiar, yet fresh. The new art in this exhibit has grown from a contemporary artist’s exploration of an Impressionist master’s artistic roots, thereby showcasing not one, but two native sons of the Caribbean. - The Curators, 81C
Charlotte Amalie based artist Steve Counselman has produced an inquisitive new collection of cityscapes featuring both familiar territory and worldly poetry. These paintings, featuring primarily sunsets over Charlotte Amalie, reflect bold creative license, spiritual homage, and tribute to a wondrous old town. This collection of fine art emotes to equal parts urban, tropical, and biblical themes. - The Curators, 81C
Liston Fahie, AKA WORM (WORM is an acronym for the World’s Only Remarkable Man) has produced a collection of mixed media works using an array of materials and techniques. Magic realism persists throughout this exhibition that transcends expectations and basic artistic formulas. This is the work of a multi-talented and dynamic St. Thomas based artist with a thirst for human connection, representation, and artistic freedom - The Curators, 81C
Superfine is a retrospective fine art exhibition featuring an energetic and adventurous collection of paintings by Charlotte Amalie based artist Vincent Bambini. Showcasing Bambini’s larger creations encased in ornate frameworks handcrafted by the artist, Superfine represents several decades of production featuring mysterious social settings, wayward humans, and scenes intrinsically reminiscent of Henri Rousseau or Roy Lichtenstein. Bambini’s neo-pop flare and in your face appeal.
- The Curators, 81C
Jasmine Lindquist’s latest series of acrylic paintings, WONDER, portrays human adventure and evolutions amongst fantastical landscapes, vibrant colors, and curious symbols. This exhibition asks viewers to explore their own intimate reflections as they relate to uncommon and beautiful events and the stories therein. Reminiscent of Through the Looking Glass, WONDER delivers moments of surprising contact, chance encounters, and enduring strength along the journey. - The Curators, 81C, Feb 2022 - The Curators, 81C
Acclaimed Virgin Islands artist Augustin Kelvin Holder presents Intrepid Journey, a full scale exhibition of abstract works on view at 81C. Through altered landscapes, recurring symbolism, and odes to memory, Mr. Holder has produced a collection of paintings which are as visually engaging as they are obscure, complex, yet hopeful. Bold strokes, bright colors, and distorted lines feel familiar yet foreign. Those who experienced Mr. Holder's previous exhibition (Beyond the Horizon, 2021) will witness progressions towards both arcane and lighthearted concepts, as even homages to outsider artists and abstract titans emerge, all while remaining true to one distinct and evolving geography that is unmistakably his own intrepid journey.
- The Curators, 81C
St. Thomas artist Prea Bhandari’s debut exhibition, Euphoria, is a color-burst-rebellion and a strong statement from a young artist achieving her prolific pursuit. Presenting a dynamic blend of both abstract craft and portraiture, Ms. Bhandari's artistic practices are both technically mysterious and purely cutting edge. This exhibition’s thirty nine pieces were created throughout 2021, culminating in a psychedelic collection that challenges preconceptions of fine art while asking viewers to consider subjectively what each piece invokes within. - The Curators, 81C
With beauty, humor, and signature homage to the macabre, Kristin Forbes-Mullane’s Coming up for Air represents works that are unique not just for their curious subject matter, but for the exceptional detail and life-like qualities they deliver. Coming up for Air highlights the capability and technique of a powerful self-taught artist whose prolific pursuits as a painter and tattoo shop proprietor on St. Thomas, are unassuming, artistically motivating, and undeniably impressive.
- The Curators, 81C
III is a group exhibition featuring three artists presently living and working in the Virgin Islands. Ieshia George, Jasmine Lindquist, and Jenny Hawks, all drawing from various sources of inspiration and talent, present new works on view at 81C. Differing styles, mediums, and subjects ask viewers to reflect upon their own personal narratives and interpretations.
- The Curators, 81C
Nel Figueroa’s avant-garde mixed media paintings offer viewers a paradoxically unusual yet familiar transcendence into themes of poetry, mysticism, humor, and pop-culture, while honoring the traditional Caribbean color palette, urban street-art, and contemporary cultural convergences. Figueroa’s soulful depictions and portrayals of celebration, natural earthly beauty, animals, and fashion keep us engaged, slightly nervous, as we wonder about the creative mind and personal pursuits of a prolific Ponce, Puerto Rico based artist. Somnium Tropicae encompasses new works by a dynamic, highly creative, and unrestrained artist. - The Curators, 81C
During artist Laurie Smithwick’s first visit to St. Thomas, she roamed the streets of town, stunned by the saturated colors in every out-of-the-way spot her wandering took her. What struck her were the unique combinations — on churches, gates, storefronts, and homes; blues and oranges, purples and pinks, reds and turquoises, all shouting for attention regardless of how tucked away they may have been. By the end of day four, she had taken over three hundred photographs. She realized she was collecting the colors of Charlotte Amalie, colors she has now reproduced in her monotype prints that make up Split-Complementary - Color-Baked Monotypes. Each print was inspired by a single photograph of a specific building — some may be recognizable, and some may be perfectly new, but they all add up to that familiar color-soaked feeling you’ll recognize as quintessentially historic Charlotte Amalie. - The Curators, 81C
There are countless ethereal tales in Virgin Islands Contemporary, which ask the viewer to deeply consider not only the figures, colors, and woven layers we inspect, but the viewer’s most personal conditions within the collective human story of time. We see figurative icons turning mysterious, and innocents growing wise and powerful. There is a futurism to the work that challenges the viewer to take note on personal consequence, tradition, and performance. Considerations for the artist’s technical processes are highly intriguing concepts, but only after you reconcile the impulsive stream of consciousness this show so profoundly inspires. Mr. Downes provides a force of insight without the need for immediate clarity or a sure conveyance of narrative control. The artist trusts the viewer to summon what is needed, personally, and does so with grace. This important and pivotal exhibition features a heavyweight fighter of an artist in his absolute prime. - The Curators, 81C
Juan Carlos Amador places a creative emphasis on the concept of color. The Puerto Rican artist revives the Neo- impressionist painting methods of divisionism with his contemporary paintings. His recent large scale abstractions exhibit his unique divisionist style and focus on optical combinations of color. His paintings differ from the application of small dabs of pure color to large patches of light washed pigments in organic shapes onto the canvas. Amador layers these translucent colors over each other as a means to create a medley of different hues. The viewer’s appreciation of the works is based on their individual and biological capacity to perceive color instantly and interpret introspectively. Unburdened by a specific narrative or message, the artwork is consequently polysemantic; It depends on the intrinsic meaning and comprehension of each spectator. - The Curators, 81C
This collection of Jared Shomo’s infrared photography, presented on metal prints, represents what the artist describes as unseen energies, and delivers a departure from the formality, expectation, and mainstream social definitions of natural beauty. The level of intrigue Mr. Shomo stands to invoke through this collection is profoundly complex, as there are trust issues in the art world associated with flipping any traditional medium on its crown, nonetheless while portraying heavenly or pure subjects. Mr. Shomo has done this so boldly, using a near-alchemy that transcends unspoken boundaries with a sense of effortlessness, all while honoring precious natural and cultural icons through an eye that is strong, exact, evocative, and changed. Virgin Islands Infrared gives the viewer dynamic insight into a fine art photographer working with earthly beauty and timelessness using avant-garde formulas, and advancing the experience through a trifecta of critical technologies, intimate presentation, and a masterful eye. - The Curators, 81C
This collection of sixteen paintings, all created in 2020, represents a calendar year where humanity has dealt with vast personal and collective uncertainties while enduring a global pandemic. The Abstract Expressionism on display captures the zeitgeist of the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, as we maneuver through medicinal, political, philosophical, and psychological landscapes. Mr. Holder’s work challenges the viewer to embrace a unique journey and to explore the unknown or unfamiliar visceral concepts through a prism of collective consciousness. Throughout this collection of paintings there are many threads that connect the work. Vibrancy of color, brush strokes, and visible layers of process all offer intrigue, forensic curiosity, and perhaps emotional reprieve during a time where love, hope, and the regaining of a sense of personal and individual normalcy in society is profoundly desired. It is our wish that the viewer engages and reflects in response to the exploration of the open themes in these paintings. With Beyond the Horizon, Mr. Holder offers the welcome surprise of inspiration and courage during a time when thirst for new incarnations, new beginnings, new love, and positive transformations are dire. - The Curators, 81C
81C inaugural galleryl exhibition in celebration with the St. Thomas Historical Trust, featuring new works on view by artist Shansi Miller. In this series of paintings, Shansi looks at the fauna, flora and waters of St. John, specifically the donkeys of Caneel Bay and the beaches at Caneel Bay, Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay. - The Curators, 81C