Contact: Kate Merlino, 212.977.7295; jpegs available
[email protected] J j JOHN DUNKLEY: NEITHER DAY NOR NIGHT AT AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM First Major Exhibition Outside Dunkley’s Native Jamaica (New York, NY, September 10, 2018) The exhibition John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night will be presented at the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) from October 30, 2018 to February 24, 2019. Organized by the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), this is the first exhibition of the work of Jamaican artist John Dunkley outside of his native country. The exhibition is curated by Diana Nawi, independent curator and co-artistic director of Prospect 5, New Orleans, with Nicole Smythe- Johnson, independent curator, and David Boxer, curatorial advisor. Valérie Rousseau, Ph.D., curator of self-taught art and art brut at AFAM, is the coordinating curator. The show is composed of forty- five works, including rare carved wood and stone figurative sculptures alongside paintings from the 1930s and 1940s, which are known for their distinctive dark palette and psychologically suggestive underpinnings. “John Dunkley is widely considered to be one of Jamaica’s most significant artists,” says Jason T. Busch, director of AFAM. “His scenes of lush Caribbean life are filled with references to the political, economic, and social issues roiling Jamaica during its colonial period. His art is overdue for international attention, and we are pleased that we can share the American debut of Dunkley’s work with Perez Art Museum Miami.” Dr. Rousseau adds that, “Dunkley was working at a pivotal time in Jamaica’s history – the 1930s and 1940s.