Congratulations are in order for the organisers of ‘Beyond the Brush’ a pop-up, two-day commercial art gallery deep within the Marriott Hotel, Guyana. The art event which was hosted on Sept 29th and 30th offered visitors of the online gallery, FineArt.gy, an opportunity to see some of the art from its online collection in person alongside other work and artists not yet visible on the website.
Indeed, the event was a breath of fresh air. Unlike exhibitions that shy away from being blunt about their objective, ‘Beyond the Brush’ made no pretence that the art on exhibition was there to be viewed, enjoyed, and most importantly bought. The layout of screens invited movement through the collection and enough time to consider one thing before another thing caught one’s attention. While the artists were on hand to speak with visitors their peripheral presence was in my mind not intrusive; nothing kills a vibe like visiting an exhibition and having an eager artist approach you to open doors for conversation when all you want to do is look, consider, like, dislike and maybe buy something.