It all came together at the last minute. The Grenada Arts Council recently hosted Revolution: An art perspective – new works depicting aspects of the Grenada Revolution years 1979-1983, and I had nada. I had previously painted two rabid mongoose tearing at the Grenada flag, as part of my ICON series, but for this exhibition, I wanted to do something that depicted the revolution in a brighter light.
Inspiration in the form of two murals created by Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) saved my bacon. The Blood of the Revolutionary Martyrs Fertilizing the Earth, and Triumph of the Revolution: Distribution of Food (see below) form part of a collection of frescos at the Autonomous University of Chapingo, Mexico.
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| Murals by Diego Rivera |
In my untitled work, the sun has as its centre a representation of a flower mosaic, a medallion that once graced the front grounds of Butler House, the former official residence of revolutionary Prime Minster, Maurice Bishop. That building on the hilltop overlooking the Lagoon, used to be known as the Santa Maria Hotel then the Islander Hotel, before being named for Grenadian spiritual Baptist pastor and renowned labour leader in Trinidad, Uriah Buzz Butler.
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| Untitled after Diego Rivera |
This composite reinterpretation of Rivera’s two murals encapsulates the ideals of the revolution in the foreground, with the betrayal lurking in the background. In the shade of a mature tree in fruit, a child reads. Behind him, guns hide in fields of corn. He waits for his mother (with a babe in arms, and another on the way) who receives seeds for planting from a man in uniform holding a calabash bolie. The elder woman to the right holds a breadfruit. The glory days of the revolution. In the background of the painting, a darkened fort sits atop a ridge that runs the length of the background, at the base of which are blank billboards (coloured blue and pink for the lost women, men and children) near a stream. Looking on is an anonymous audience, scattered by the shock of the reversal of the revolution’s fortune.
Rivera was influenced by the Mexican Revolution (1914-15) and the Russian Revolution (1917) and he believed that art should play a role in empowering working people to understand their own histories. I feel the same.
(Above) Exhibit opening September 28, the artist and US Charge d’Affaires Bernard Link.