The National Gallery, Castellani House is currently hosting an exhibition, ‘Donald Locke and the Artists of the Independence Era.’
The exhibition, which runs until August 31, features the work of artists who “in their individual searches for style and technique and a personal idiom of expression, seemed to mirror the questioning of the wider society as the new era of an independent Guyana began,” according to the National Gallery.
The works on display in the first floor gallery are from a “gifted second generation” of Guyanese artists, it added in a statement. They include paintings from an influential group that comprised Locke, Stanley Greaves, Ronald Savory, and Michael Leila—who were all born in the 1930s—as well as others such as Philip Moore, Cletus Henriques and Dudley Charles.
According to the gallery, primarily paintings are exhibited from an era dominated by two-dimensional works, though sculpture from Moore and Greaves from the period are included. More of the works on display were created in the 1960s, with additional works from the 1970s and 80s. Notable among them are two collaborative pieces by Moore and Locke, which are mixed media, painted relief works interpreting the Pakaraima mountain ranges. They were produced the year after independence.
Meanwhile, the gallery is continuing to display selected works by the late Moore until August 31 in the two upper floors. The works exhibit the “range of imagination, themes and execution that characterised the 60 years of Moore’s productivity as an artist,” it said.
In addition, a Book of Remembrance for Moore remains open until next Saturday, after which it will be presented to his family.
Gallery hours are 10 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday and 2 pm to 6 pm on Saturday. The gallery is closed on Sundays and holidays. Admission is free.
