5 Jamaican Visual Artists with an Online Portfolio

Jamaican Sculpture by Sheena Bryan

If you’re a big art fanatic you hardly have to leave your house anymore these days to appreciate the work thats available out there. The Internet brings everything to your fingertips and there are a few savvy Jamaican artists who are taking advantage of it to keep you very well updated on what they’re doing.

I take it as a given that most of the more popular and well established Jamaican artists would be featured online, either with their own websites or in online galleries; but I was primarily concerned with young artists who most need exposure. I’m sure there are more upcoming artists maintaining an online portfolio than I found, but nonetheless I was disappointed at how many of these I know of that aren’t represented online. I know it is said that artists typically aren’t good business men/women, but being born in the age of tech knowing you should have a presence on the Internet doesn’t take much business acumen – all it requires is the minimum of effort to point, click and upload.

Here are 5 Jamaican artists that keep an active portfolio of their work online:

Stefan Clarke

A graduate of Edna Manley College, Stefan who is a welder gained his reputation for his striking larger than life sculptures, as well as his to hell with all of you appearance of straight jacket, tats, piercings and a Mohawk before it became trendy. A few of his more recognizable pieces can be seen at the UTech and Edna Manley Campuses. He has also been featured at the National Gallery as well as in numerous other exhibitions.

Currently the artist is working on a collection of wearable art. I am disappointed in his Facebook page showing, however it does feature a small collection of photos which allow you a titillating view of the current body of work – no – pun intended, I do mean BODY of work. A very fine body of work.

Marlon James

Frank. Fresh. Minimal. I love Marlon James’ work. I also love love love the fact that James is taking good advantage of the Internet with a Facebook profile that represents a large collection of his work as well as a professional website that showcases his portfolio, bio, pricing and contact info. Marlon is an artist who showed up to the Internet to work!

As a lover of all things art-y, I would recommend a browse through his work, as many times as I visit his page I am always captivated by his images which are primarily portraiture.

Sheena Bryan

Her showing on the Internet is not very organized – she has a Facebook as well as a Myspace page – but I like her work so well that I thought she was worth featuring. I also hope that she might take a cue from this nudge and put up an Artist Page that features a little more of her personality, work and process as an artist.

Sheena describes herself as an intuitive artist, working primarily with acrylics for her paintings and putty and acrylics for her striking sculptures and furniture pieces. Her work is very impressive.

Nakazzi Hutchinson

Primarily a sculptor who produces remarkable pieces using found items such as driftwood and other organic matter, Hutchinson is a prolific artist who also paints, and sketches in charcoal and pencil. All of these genres and media are very well represented on her Facebook Page as well as her website.

In 2001 Hutchinson won the Mutual Life Artist of the year award, carrying away both prizes, the public award as well as the juried prize. To date she is the only artist to have won them both simultaneously.

Khalil Deane

Deane’s showing of work on his Facebook profile as well as his Artslant (an art network) profile is very limited but worth looking at.

A Graduate of Edna Manley College Deane is a fourth of the group Core Insights which often does joint showings.

I find Deane’s work interesting, with a minimalist approach to paint and colour, but also hard to relate to. Aloof. Take a browse of his portfolio and decide for yourself what you think of his work.