I have translated the works of 19 artists on war, migration, desolation and isolation, in particular with reference to works featuring pierrot, harlequin, clown or acrobat figures, precursor to our present day ShortKnee, as part of my Chantuelle Translations series articulating my response to the socially sanctioned slow and painful death of the ShortKnee.
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| Four Pierrots |
Albert Bloch, an American artist, believed in colour and a spontaneous, intuitive approach to painting. His 1912 piece Four Pierrots reduces the fluffiness of theatre costume to clean outlines, in neutral colours. My version shows four stylized ShortKnee nestled among volcanic rocks, clothed in simplified costume of hood, mask, breeches and tunic tops with chest mirrors.
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| Le Pierrot |
In his 1921 work Le Pierrot, French cubist painter Roger de La Fresnaye, shows the costume in a blues and white. I show the whole costume, down to the shoes, with the addition of pinks, red and copper paint, and a few more circles (chest mirrors).
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| Little Pierrots |
Little children dressed in spike hats with paper masks comprise the simple, fairytale-like world of the 1930 work Little Pierrots by Polish artist Tadeusz Makowski. My ShortKnee sport the trademark white mask, chest mirrors, and a soft sprinkling of baby powder left of the panel.
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| Pierre le fou |
Spanish artist Joan Miró, experimented with and borrowed from different artistic styles of art including Haitian Voodou art. His children’s graffiti forms in bright primary colours evident in his many paintings, sculptures and ceramics. Pierrot le fou is a 1964 work that I have interpreted, in lines and colour, paying attention to the white mask and the mirror talismans.
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| Pierrot |
Georges Rouault’s mother encouraged his love for the arts. In 1907, he began a series of paintings dedicated to clowns, interpreted as moral and social criticism. One of his aquatints hints at the outline of the Pierrot, further reduce in my version, to abstract elements.
The essence of the ShortKnee is evident even though each image is strikingly different. Visual interpretations of this kind can serve as much needed documentation leading to a better understanding of this artform, and its origins, as well as expand the repertoire of painting subjects for students of Grenadian art.
ShortKnee can be traced back to the spoken word traditions of the West African Chantuelle, oral libraries whose recollections made bearable the suffering of slaves on the plantations of Grenada, fused with French Pierrot elements, and wrapped in six and a half yards of vulgar fabric that is breathtaking in sunlight masquerade. Once a disguise and a way to compromise, the ShortKnee is today, in this artist’s opinion, the most compelling icon of Grenada, and a subject worthy of visual artistic study.