JUNE IN REVIEW //

SUE KATZ & JESSICA WHITTINGHAM

‘ Down Home ‘

June 7, 2022 | E Wagner

As summer draws near CAB ends their first exhibition season with the brightest cluster of material, colour and free flowing imagination possible with collaborative collage works exhibition ‘Down Home’ by Sue Katz and Jessica Whittingham. This incisive observation explores the rich cultural landscape of our archipelago depicting life, routine and the intrinsic beauty and vibrance that exists on our shores. Combining objects both found and fabricated, the artists work within the confines of their distinguished style to explore the meaning of ‘down home’. 

Currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology at McGill, Jessica is a humble, effervescent addition to the art scene and has baffled us all with her self-taught artistry. Her delicate technique beautifully tackles a highly challenging genre with poise. Having spent her earlier years painting, Whittingham began experimenting with surrealism collage in 2018. Since then Jessica’s work has evolved immensely but vintage imagery is still the crux of her style. This body of work marks a new iteration of Jessica’s continued engagement with colour, form and her eager experimentalism. Her use of embellishments, texture and conspicuous pattern continues to intensify with every canvas. 

Sue’s unrivalled use of colour to masterfully shape the vivid spirit of a market scene both then and now will always have a permanence. Her work captures so much more than what’s pictured but rather the palpable energy and vibrance of our culture stored epically in each piece. Incorporating organic shape and material that engage all five senses, Sue’s work draws on Bahamian history highlighting communally experienced scenes, sights, objects and spaces in the most tremendous assemblage of colour. The level of detail in a single square inch of Sue’s canvas’ catapults you into sensory overload. Peppered with retro ephemera, and Bahamian momentos; Sue’s work is always so much fun to decipher!

Both artists have an affinity for the seemingly unremarkable. Jessica builds her pieces centred around old, overlooked photographs of people who have made contributions – great or small – to our country and culture. Fishermen, spongers and straw makers, the true grit of this island nation, feature prominently. Their impact is felt and Whittingham pays homage by centering her work around their integral footprint. Sue too effortlessly captures the real essence of ‘down home’, the simple, beautiful period that sadly seems to have passed us by. These scenes present as an era bygone, something so perfectly simply that we long for and recall with the fondest of memories. Life has transformed and the modern word is complex, vast and automated. Perhaps the subliminal take home from this exceptional array of work is to try and not let the complexities of today undergird your daily life. Go sit by the sea this summer. 

Ending with a bright bang, ‘Down Home’ is the last show of this season but if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s on until June 17th! In the interim, CAB will have an eclectic collection of works by Thierry Lamare, Sue Bennett-Williams, Lynn Parotti, Amos Ferguson, Kendal Hanna and Roland Rose among many others on display throughout the summer. A much anticipated solo show by Max Taylor in September will end the hiatus and kick start the next show season! 

APRIL IN REVIEW // SAMANTHA TRECO

‘ SUNDAY ‘

April 29, 2022 | Emma Wagner

On view this month at CAB is their very own Gallery Manager, Samantha Treco and her collection ‘Sunday’ that underscores her distinctive curiosity and continued exploration of water and light. Marking her inaugural solo show, ‘Sunday’ uses amplified strokes of colour to create movement, depth and structure through a vivid field of paint. Sam’s subject matter draws from the simple, mundane intricacies of life. With a gentle eye, Sam extracts beautiful moments from the most monotonous, seemingly frivolous parts of everyday life.  

Those familiar with past bodies of Sam’s work will no doubt find the continued fascination and deep appreciation for water, light and their reciprocity very apparent in this oeuvre. Her token swaths of acrylic paint coupled with delicate line work are hard to miss. Sam’s intentional exaggeration of colour and tendency to dabble in the moodier palette create a welcomed diversion from the typically turquoise depictions of Bahamian landscapes. Masterful blending of colour and layer with a distinctive unwillingness to comply with traditional colour schemes give Sam’s work an ethereal haze, one that soothes the soul in the simplest of ways. 

Permeating Sam’s work is an appreciation for our environment and the feelings and emotions that exist within them. The emotional aspect is seemingly achieved through colour pushed beyond the natural range. Often laced with quieter references to a personal memory, Sam’s meticulous digitalised preliminary studies allow her to repeatedly sketch a scene until she has manipulated the palette and application to her liking. Often working from photos, she sketches on her iPad repeatedly until she’s satisfied and then transfers the vision onto canvas. These studies are each as stunning as the final hitting different notes of colour, mood and sentiment. An artists method is something not always visible and Sam’s modern twist is really quite interesting as her work has an undeniable ‘old world’ glow to it. 

A beautiful body of work curated from their adjacent desks, Samantha and Natascha make for a wonderful pair, accentuating each other’s strengths. Make your way to CAB to see artist and work in situ while it’s on display for the remainder of this month! 

For more works by Samantha Treco

FEBRUARY IN REVIEW // LYNN PAROTTI & IMOGENE WALKINE

‘AQUABOTANICA’

March 18, 2022 | Emma Wagner

Another hotly anticipated show in our spring calendar has just wrapped up – CAB Gallery’s ‘AQUABOTANICA’. This immersive collection was a collaborative show hosting a beautifully bright survey of works by visceral impressionist, Lynn Parotti and the Governors Harbour hailing ceramicist, Imogene Walkine. The artists are naturally unified in their subject matter, each working in their choice medium and style to capture their unanimous, unbridled appreciation for the natural world both above and below the surface.  

The instantly recognisable bright potency of Lynn’s thick, layered foliage and fluttering leaves engulf the viewer. You’re drawn from canvas to canvas trying to unravel the distorted, almost psychedelic, forested scenes that beg so many questions. In a perfect balance of contrast, Imogene’s impeccably smooth, sculpted pearlescent corals look as though they would sway with every ebb and flow break the kaleidoscopic terrestrial experience of Lynn’s world. The softness of Imogene’s ceramic seabed is calm and serene with supple spikes and gentle peaks disappearing into the delicate folds of her mysterious water world. This coalesced whimsy environment of colour dives so much deeper, dabbling in just how interconnected we are. 

As a viewer, this show gave me a deepened appreciation for the art that is curation. The natural contrast between canvas and clay already sparks visual intrigue but the placement and spacing between the pieces was masterful in itself. Particularly, the colourful collection of coral-like pieces that spanned a corner wall. They were each sold individually meaning that many had the opportunity to re create this cornerstone at home. It was undoubtedly the centrepiece and really shed light on the detail, consideration and time that go into a production like this. 

With yet another interesting element to it ‘AQUABOTANICA’ challenged the artists to work in each other’s medium. This collaborative vision of Gallery Director, Natascha Vazquez’ allowed for some cross-pollination and experimentalism with space, form and function away from the confines of their traditional style. Both artists were challenged by this twist in the narrative and worked tirelessly to create works with blurred lines between art and design. 

Having visited the gallery several times before the show I watched both Lynn and Imogene conjure creativity from every corner of their suddenly unmoored minds.  Lynn sat tirelessly, working her brilliance into a 3D vision whilst Imogene seemed to methodically work out every brush stroke before the bristles hit the paper. There was something really quite humbling about watching artistic masters, both leaders in their fields, hunched over their work stations interminably trying to bring their vision to fruition. This unusual aspect of AQUABOTANICA really added something unbridled and completely unforeseen to the experience. CAB Gallery is of course surrounded by tradition but certainly not bound by it. Natascha’s energy and curatorial eye for strong bodied work has catapulted CAB into a bustling art hub for collectors, enthusiast and students alike and we look forward to seeing what the Bennett duo have in store for us. 

january in review // dede brown

‘BRING ME A DREAM’

February 23, 2022 | Emma Wagner

With an eye for feminine emotion, strength and fragility, Dede’s latest body of work ‘Bring Me A Dream’ powerfully captures her personal experiences jostling with the highs and lows of life. This highly expressive collection touches on tender, euphoric and somber personal memories, something that has been less visible from Dede’s work in the past. 

Dede’s portfolio is enormously experimental with her sculpture, photography and painting at the forefront. Her most iconic work to date for most would be her stoic but sultry, breathtaking portraits of women with intricate, embossed details from the sea. ‘Bring Me A Dream’ is a stunning and entirely deliberate evolution in her work that dauntlessly portrays women and their many faces in our murky, taboo-laden society. 

Cornered in her studio and mind with the pandemic settling in around her, Dede’s experimentalism took over and she masterfully combines copper and photo transfer in a dreamlike scape of depth and mood. This body of work draws on raw elements including copper and wood to blend her environment with personal iconographies that we know and love. Regularly working with paint and pattern, the addition of copper and Kendra-Frorup-inspired dangling embellishments intensifies the earthy but luminous outcome. The bright pinks and glowing oranges that she later applies pierce the darkened shadows helping to highlight lighter memories often remembered with a bushel of frangipanis, a pup or beloved cat. Brown reminds us, through her own personal journey, that there is beauty in the simple, and we can emerge from anguish and hardship, however vulnerable this may feel. The use of exceptional hues to highlight glimmers of euphoria against a darker backdrop serve as a lesson that often light rises from dark. 

For more works by Dede Brown

FEBRUARY IN REVIEW // LYNN PAROTTI & IMOGENE WALKINE

‘AQUABOTANICA’

March 18, 2022 | Emma Wagner

Another hotly anticipated show in our spring calendar has just wrapped up – CAB Gallery’s ‘AQUABOTANICA’. This immersive collection was a collaborative show hosting a beautifully bright survey of works by visceral impressionist, Lynn Parotti and the Governors Harbour hailing ceramicist, Imogene Walkine. The artists are naturally unified in their subject matter, each working in their choice medium and style to capture their unanimous, unbridled appreciation for the natural world both above and below the surface.  

The instantly recognisable bright potency of Lynn’s thick, layered foliage and fluttering leaves engulf the viewer. You’re drawn from canvas to canvas trying to unravel the distorted, almost psychedelic, forested scenes that beg so many questions. In a perfect balance of contrast, Imogene’s impeccably smooth, sculpted pearlescent corals look as though they would sway with every ebb and flow break the kaleidoscopic terrestrial experience of Lynn’s world. The softness of Imogene’s ceramic seabed is calm and serene with supple spikes and gentle peaks disappearing into the delicate folds of her mysterious water world. This coalesced whimsy environment of colour dives so much deeper, dabbling in just how interconnected we are. 

As a viewer, this show gave me a deepened appreciation for the art that is curation. The natural contrast between canvas and clay already sparks visual intrigue but the placement and spacing between the pieces was masterful in itself. Particularly, the colourful collection of coral-like pieces that spanned a corner wall. They were each sold individually meaning that many had the opportunity to re create this cornerstone at home. It was undoubtedly the centrepiece and really shed light on the detail, consideration and time that go into a production like this. 

With yet another interesting element to it ‘AQUABOTANICA’ challenged the artists to work in each other’s medium. This collaborative vision of Gallery Director, Natascha Vazquez’ allowed for some cross-pollination and experimentalism with space, form and function away from the confines of their traditional style. Both artists were challenged by this twist in the narrative and worked tirelessly to create works with blurred lines between art and design. 

Having visited the gallery several times before the show I watched both Lynn and Imogene conjure creativity from every corner of their suddenly unmoored minds.  Lynn sat tirelessly, working her brilliance into a 3D vision whilst Imogene seemed to methodically work out every brush stroke before the bristles hit the paper. There was something really quite humbling about watching artistic masters, both leaders in their fields, hunched over their work stations interminably trying to bring their vision to fruition. This unusual aspect of AQUABOTANICA really added something unbridled and completely unforeseen to the experience. CAB Gallery is of course surrounded by tradition but certainly not bound by it. Natascha’s energy and curatorial eye for strong bodied work has catapulted CAB into a bustling art hub for collectors, enthusiast and students alike and we look forward to seeing what the Bennett duo have in store for us. 

january in review // dede brown

‘BRING ME A DREAM’

February 23, 2022 | Emma Wagner

With an eye for feminine emotion, strength and fragility, Dede’s latest body of work ‘Bring Me A Dream’ powerfully captures her personal experiences jostling with the highs and lows of life. This highly expressive collection touches on tender, euphoric and somber personal memories, something that has been less visible from Dede’s work in the past. 

Dede’s portfolio is enormously experimental with her sculpture, photography and painting at the forefront. Her most iconic work to date for most would be her stoic but sultry, breathtaking portraits of women with intricate, embossed details from the sea. ‘Bring Me A Dream’ is a stunning and entirely deliberate evolution in her work that dauntlessly portrays women and their many faces in our murky, taboo-laden society. 

Cornered in her studio and mind with the pandemic settling in around her, Dede’s experimentalism took over and she masterfully combines copper and photo transfer in a dreamlike scape of depth and mood. This body of work draws on raw elements including copper and wood to blend her environment with personal iconographies that we know and love. Regularly working with paint and pattern, the addition of copper and Kendra-Frorup-inspired dangling embellishments intensifies the earthy but luminous outcome. The bright pinks and glowing oranges that she later applies pierce the darkened shadows helping to highlight lighter memories often remembered with a bushel of frangipanis, a pup or beloved cat. Brown reminds us, through her own personal journey, that there is beauty in the simple, and we can emerge from anguish and hardship, however vulnerable this may feel. The use of exceptional hues to highlight glimmers of euphoria against a darker backdrop serve as a lesson that often light rises from dark. 

For more works by Dede Brown

FEBRUARY IN REVIEW // LYNN PAROTTI & IMOGENE WALKINE

‘AQUABOTANICA’

March 18, 2022 | Emma Wagner

Another hotly anticipated show in our spring calendar has just wrapped up – CAB Gallery’s ‘AQUABOTANICA’. This immersive collection was a collaborative show hosting a beautifully bright survey of works by visceral impressionist, Lynn Parotti and the Governors Harbour hailing ceramicist, Imogene Walkine. The artists are naturally unified in their subject matter, each working in their choice medium and style to capture their unanimous, unbridled appreciation for the natural world both above and below the surface.  

The instantly recognisable bright potency of Lynn’s thick, layered foliage and fluttering leaves engulf the viewer. You’re drawn from canvas to canvas trying to unravel the distorted, almost psychedelic, forested scenes that beg so many questions. In a perfect balance of contrast, Imogene’s impeccably smooth, sculpted pearlescent corals look as though they would sway with every ebb and flow break the kaleidoscopic terrestrial experience of Lynn’s world. The softness of Imogene’s ceramic seabed is calm and serene with supple spikes and gentle peaks disappearing into the delicate folds of her mysterious water world. This coalesced whimsy environment of colour dives so much deeper, dabbling in just how interconnected we are. 

As a viewer, this show gave me a deepened appreciation for the art that is curation. The natural contrast between canvas and clay already sparks visual intrigue but the placement and spacing between the pieces was masterful in itself. Particularly, the colourful collection of coral-like pieces that spanned a corner wall. They were each sold individually meaning that many had the opportunity to re create this cornerstone at home. It was undoubtedly the centrepiece and really shed light on the detail, consideration and time that go into a production like this. 

With yet another interesting element to it ‘AQUABOTANICA’ challenged the artists to work in each other’s medium. This collaborative vision of Gallery Director, Natascha Vazquez’ allowed for some cross-pollination and experimentalism with space, form and function away from the confines of their traditional style. Both artists were challenged by this twist in the narrative and worked tirelessly to create works with blurred lines between art and design. 

Having visited the gallery several times before the show I watched both Lynn and Imogene conjure creativity from every corner of their suddenly unmoored minds.  Lynn sat tirelessly, working her brilliance into a 3D vision whilst Imogene seemed to methodically work out every brush stroke before the bristles hit the paper. There was something really quite humbling about watching artistic masters, both leaders in their fields, hunched over their work stations interminably trying to bring their vision to fruition. This unusual aspect of AQUABOTANICA really added something unbridled and completely unforeseen to the experience. CAB Gallery is of course surrounded by tradition but certainly not bound by it. Natascha’s energy and curatorial eye for strong bodied work has catapulted CAB into a bustling art hub for collectors, enthusiast and students alike and we look forward to seeing what the Bennett duo have in store for us. 

january in review // dede brown

‘BRING ME A DREAM’

February 23, 2022 | Emma Wagner

With an eye for feminine emotion, strength and fragility, Dede’s latest body of work ‘Bring Me A Dream’ powerfully captures her personal experiences jostling with the highs and lows of life. This highly expressive collection touches on tender, euphoric and somber personal memories, something that has been less visible from Dede’s work in the past. 

Dede’s portfolio is enormously experimental with her sculpture, photography and painting at the forefront. Her most iconic work to date for most would be her stoic but sultry, breathtaking portraits of women with intricate, embossed details from the sea. ‘Bring Me A Dream’ is a stunning and entirely deliberate evolution in her work that dauntlessly portrays women and their many faces in our murky, taboo-laden society. 

Cornered in her studio and mind with the pandemic settling in around her, Dede’s experimentalism took over and she masterfully combines copper and photo transfer in a dreamlike scape of depth and mood. This body of work draws on raw elements including copper and wood to blend her environment with personal iconographies that we know and love. Regularly working with paint and pattern, the addition of copper and Kendra-Frorup-inspired dangling embellishments intensifies the earthy but luminous outcome. The bright pinks and glowing oranges that she later applies pierce the darkened shadows helping to highlight lighter memories often remembered with a bushel of frangipanis, a pup or beloved cat. Brown reminds us, through her own personal journey, that there is beauty in the simple, and we can emerge from anguish and hardship, however vulnerable this may feel. The use of exceptional hues to highlight glimmers of euphoria against a darker backdrop serve as a lesson that often light rises from dark. 

For more works by Dede Brown