Locating the Artwork of the French Caribbean & Haiti
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Grey Area: Locating the Artwork of the French Caribbean & Haiti Arden Sherman In 1964, French President history of French sovereignty in Charles de Gaulle visited the Caribbean. Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Dust Specks on the Sea: French Guiana on an official Contemporary Sculpture from state trip. Flying in an airplane the French Caribbean & Haiti over the Caribbean Sea, de focuses on sculptural works Gaulle described the islands as by twenty-two contempo- “dust specks on the sea.”1 De rary artists from Guadeloupe, Gaulle’s famous quote evokes Martinique, French Guiana, and the almost otherworldly mys- Haiti. The exhibition presents tery of an aerial view of the various approaches to subject Caribbean archipelago, while matter, sculptural materials, and at the same time revealing a process that speak to the con- deep-seated hierarchical per- temporary practices of artists of spective of the region stem- this region, evincing their partici- ming from France’s history as a pation in an expanded, globalized powerful colonizing force in the art world and putting pressure on Caribbean. The French Caribbean notions of who is at its “center” is made up of two islands— and who is on its “periphery.” Guadeloupe and Martinique—as Derived from de Gaulle’s obser- well as the state of French vation, the exhibition’s title is Guiana, which sits on the north- used to challenge the perception eastern edge of South America. that this region and its artwork These Overseas Departments are mere specks of dust. of France are officially gov- Contrary to other recent erned by, and are economically exhibitions showcasing contem- and socially connected to, the porary Caribbean artists, Dust European metropole. In the Specks on the Sea creates a northern part of the Caribbean, landscape that looks beyond known as the Greater Antilles, regional categorization and gives the nation of Haiti shares the attention to artists' subjectivities island of Hispaniola with the as complex and rich, expanding Dominican Republic. In 1804, past preconceived ideas of what after over a decade of com- art from this region can look like bat led by rebelling slaves, and what subjects it can address. Haiti gained independence from The exhibition is unique in the France and forever changed the physicality of its display: works Rendering of proposed artwork, Acta es fabula, Marielle Plaisir, 2018 HUNTER EAST HARLEM GALLERY 4 DUST SPECKS ON THE SEA 5 are positioned in close proximity Fiévée, Audry Liseron-Monfils, proposes a future liberated from historical nostalgia. Fabiola and in direct conversation with Louisa Marajo, Ricardo Ozier- temporality and geography Jean-Louis's fragile paper sculp- one another, evoking a sensation Lafontaine, Jérémie Paul, Tabita where technology prevails. tures of Louis XIV-era shoes of networked ideas amongst a Rezaire, and Yoan Sorin) do Topographically, Haiti is and Edouard Duval-Carrié’s mosaic of individual artistic ap- not make work that obviously the most mountainous island in large resin head of a warrior-like proaches. The Martiniquan writer, asserts where they are from; the Caribbean (“Haiti” meaning figure play with history in ways philosopher, and poet Édouard rather, they emphasize their "land of high mountains" in the that can be read as defiant Glissant is the most recognized identities foremost as thinkers indigenous Taíno language), with gestures towards colonialism. In theorist of Carribeanism, and his and makers who draw from a rivers flowing throughout the the form of a poetic memorial, work helps clarify the com- vast range of conceptual and country and aquamarine coast- Jean-Ulrick Désert highlights plexities of the archipelago and aesthetic strategies. lines. The history of Haiti is, on the story of a brutally murdered its relationship to its govern- Audry Liseron-Monfils one hand, revolutionary and young Haitian girl, taking a ing metropoles (in this case, creates sculptures from pioneering, and on the other, a critical approach to the hollow France). Dust Specks on the Sea branches found on the beaches of story of continual hardship and glamorization and exploitation looks to Glissant’s proposition Martinique grafted to struggle. By 1825, only twenty of “Third World” catastrophe. for “a world in which one is, quite locally-sourced driftwood and years after Haiti became an Gaëlle Choisne takes inspiration simply, one agrees to be, with placed on the ground. Though independent nation—a feat won from the Haitian landscape and and among others.”2 these materials are very literally through the only successful pays tribute to its beauty and In Dust Specks on the Martiniquan, Liseron-Monfils’s slave revolt in history—the coun- culture with her bronzed oyster Sea, the exhibiting artists from minimalism-influenced ges- try had accumulated significant shells and selection of music by Guadeloupe, Martinique, and ture restrains them from being debt, owing millions to France the under-recognized Haitian French Guiana are uniquely visually associated with the in order to be “recognized” as composer Carmen Brouard. positioned between a Caribbean “island.” Louisa Marajo’s photo, an autonomous nation-state. In In 1902, the eruption of the ideology and a European one. paint, and wood installations the ensuing two hundred years, volcano Mt. Pelée on the island Tourists and travel guides have contain elements of construction Haitians have faced some of the of Martinique destroyed the town historically coined Martinique barricades, referencing con- most impoverished living condi- of Saint-Pierre, killing approx- and Guadeloupe as a “Little temporary urban street scenes tions in modern times, imately thirty thousand people France”—a place where one familiar throughout the world. exacerbated by a 2010 earth- in a matter of minutes. Poignant could buy a baguette equiva- Considered alongside the history quake which resulted in over photographic images of the worst lent in flavor to those from the of nineteenth-century land- two hundred thousand volcanic disaster of the early finest Parisian bakeries. It seems scape paintings of Martinique, casualties (death toll numbers twentieth century show the undeniable that the islands’ Marajo’s work functions almost remain inconclusive, a fact which volcano’s dusty plume looming close ties to the metropole—for as a post-apocalyptic version of itself signifies a lack of interna- above the sparkling waters of education and for culture—hold a a landscape experience, elim- tional humanitarian support). the Caribbean. These beautiful space in the consciousnesses of inating all romantic signifiers Works by six artists from visual documents of destruc- the inhabitants of the Overseas of "tropical" conditions. Tabita Haiti (Vladimir Cybil Charlier, tion point to the complexities Departments. Rezaire works primarily in the Gaëlle Choisne, Jean-Ulrick of the archipelago: the French But in many cases, these digital sphere. Her work Ultra Désert, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Caribbean and Haiti cannot be artists look beyond cultural Wet - Recapitulation is a large Adler Guerrier, Fabiola Jean- defined solely by their “exotic” identity and colonial history pyramidal sculpture with pro- Louis) further the discourse beauty nor by their historical for inspiration while making art. jections of digital renderings her around themes more common- trauma. By locating Charles de Half of the exhibiting artists sci-fi investigation into identity, ly seen in exhibitions of work Gaulle's dismissive quote front (Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, gender norms, and disjointed from this region: independence, and center in our exhibition’s Kenny Dunkan, Nathalie Leroy- geographies. Here, Rezaire identity, cultural influence, and title, we call attention to his HUNTER EAST HARLEM GALLERY 6 DUST SPECKS ON THE SEA 7 .