LEFT: Poster reproduction of Botero's 'Dancing'. RIGHT: Botero's 'Cabeza' ('Head') in a poster reproduction. - Photos by Winston Sill and Anthea McGibbon

Anthea McGibbon, Gleaner Writer

TWO WEEKS ago, world-acclaimed Colombian artist Fernando Botero surpassed his given three score and 10, biblically speaking, and turned 75 years of age. In celebration, some 200 persons, including members of the diplomatic corps, were invited to the opening of an exhibition of his copied works at Life of Jamaica Centre, New Kingston, by the Colombian Embassy. Among them were Paul Issa and his Spanish wife, Oriente, who both "just love Fernando Botero's works".

In keeping with the main objective, 'average' Jamaican passers-by, beginning on that very night, got a chance to tune into tales of Colombian lifestyle, openly told by Botero.

Unlike Picasso, who has somewhat influenced Botero, and other deceased masters such as van Gogh, Matisse and Monet, the still-living painting master has 40 poster reproductions continually animating the shopping centre until June 30.

'Too vague'

On opening night, two policemen standing guard at the illustrated 'Inflated Dolls', shared their view point with The Sunday Gleaner. Constable Conradio Taylor voiced popular opinion that the works were "too vague" and remote for any Jamaican to understand. Compared to Jamaican art, he also added that the pieces were sloppy.

His colleague, Constable Glenn Nevins, in contrast, felt that the works were good art, but showed an obsession with fat people. After that night, at least 20 persons who spoke with The Sunday Gleaner readily made comparisons with the statues in Emancipation Park, with many highlighting Jamaican master Barrington Watson's art as their favourite. This was interesting, as most viewers preferred traditional subjects, and there wa concern with the expressed nudity.

Most of the male viewers and two women concluded that the Botero exhibition, like the Laura Facey statues at Emancipation Park was a good start to help Jamaicans come to terms with the subject of nudity.

A number of women thought the works crossed over from being art to pornography. Additionally, Markland Hearne who works in New Kingston, opined that the "Penis Park (Emancipation Park) statues" were worse.

Happening in society

Only a few days later, a group of high-school students was involved in a heated discussion on the exhibition. First-former at St. Hugh's, Adria Sterling, whose first expression was "Yuck!", opined that the works described what was happening in Jamaican society.

Second-form Immaculate Conception student, Jheaneal Hall, who simply loves the works of Barrington Watson, said the works made fat people look (bad), while Danielle Sutherland, also from Immaculate, mused on the "kind of mind behind such gross works". On the contrary, Davian Jones, third-former from Wolmer's Boys, found the works funny and, especially the inflated Mona Lisa, highly creative. In defence, Stephanie Locke, a Merl Grove third-former rebutted that the works were to be appreciated just like the Emancipation Park statues.

The shared concern of the students, ironically, was the exhibition's impact on younger children, and soon enough, one wide-eyed five-year-old boy offered a "Nice" comment.

The works undoubtedly arouse and challenge local perceptions about art, much to the satisfaction of the Colombian Embassy staffers. Colombia's Ambassador to Jamaica, Dr. Venturo Emilio Daz Meja, believes the works are a step closer to the goal of cultural exchange.

Colombian lifestyle

According to First Secretary (Cultural Affairs) at the Embassy of Colombia, Jorge Hernán Jaramillo, Botero has worked from observations of human behaviour, popular figures and events (such as massacres), over the past five decades. Most of the selected works reflect Colombian lifestyle, and, as explained by Jaramillo, are exhibited through posters as amassing original pieces from collectors across the world and transport of the same proved difficult. He did, however, confirm that at least one original painting titled 'The Musicians' was sold for US$2 million at Christie's Auction House, New York, last year.

In contrast to typical Spanish painters who reproduce the beauty around them, Botero's paintings reveal his inner thirst for beauty, and the passions and sympathies he has towards humanity. The features of the main subjects - animals and people - are always enlarged out of proportion, resulting in tiny hands and feet supporting oversized bodies - the renowned signature style of his combined figurative drawings, paintings and scupltures.

It could be that these inflations are a unique strategy for empowering those who have been victimised, just as much as Botero's claim that he is only exaggerating hidden beauty.

Work the funny bone

Nevertheless, the poster reproductions prod us into wondering whether these muscular expansions are due to a limitation of skill - nonetheless to a clever end, as the pieces work the funny bone, as in for example, the large women dancing on feet small enough to measure no bigger than a set of toes in comparison to the body they support.

In the current exhibition, there is a great deal of female nudity, an a few women are joined by men, the works depict the power that women, dressed up or down, may have over men.

Botero also attacks and seeks to put an end to hideous wrongs such as aristocratic snobbery, terrorism, and sufferings. Botero is also known for his series on the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In a number of paintings, he submits the men to the figures he accepts as having authority. In one self-portrait, this is done through an inflated, but miniature illustration of himself in front of an enlarged giant-size woman.

Other activities portrayed are showering, love affairs, group discussions, dancing, card playing, partying, smoking, music playing. At least three are self-portraits, enlarged versions of himself, telling of his own pastimes.

Botero's works seem to criticise with satire the childish qualities within adults.

Art critic tutor at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Jonathan Greenland, appreciates the works for the "wonderful humour and focus on humanity" they possess. "You feel like you are looking into a different world of folk art," he said, adding that "you can't take it seriously". It is notable that one of three fat women who went by who asked not to be named, appreciated the works as a determined effort to reflect how much the body is God's work of art.

Whether they have cringed, laughed, or scorned the paintings, there is much stir to turn 75 year-old Botero into a living legend around Jamaica for years to come. While on one hand his exaggerations are his signature style of bringing out beauty in his subjects and appreciated as such, for some Jamaicans, this goes against the grain and degrades their fat fellowmen.

Anthea McGibbon, a graduate of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, has over 10 years' experience in the fields of journalism and the arts. Contact her at islandartattack@yahoo.co.uk or anthea.mcgibbon@gleanerjm.com.