Photo by Michael Robinson
Untitled (from the Dear Keisha series) - mixed media on canvas by Ebony Patterson (2003).

Michael Robinson, Gleaner Writer

'A Tribute to Hope Brooks' is an exhibition 40 years in the making. Curated by Veerle Poupeye, the exhibition now on at Edna Manley College's Cag[e] gallery is a retrospective from one of Jamaica's influential female artists.

Brooks received her formal education overseas at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland (1963-67) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (1980-81), where she gained an MFA in art education. The early international exposure might have contributed to her outside-the-box perspective. Early works like 'Red Hills Rocks' and 'Four Pomegranates' evince a curious mind with a penchant for expressive creation in a variety of media.

In the show's catalogue, Dr Petrine Archer-Straw writes: "Through her choice of subject matter ... She revealed the power of meditation and showed us how the windows and doors of our imagination could become escape routes." Brooks' work is about expression, introspection and understanding the world through a microscope. In the '70s when the local art scene was male-dominated and full of academic representational art, Brooks used 'found' objects and her internal filters to produce powerfully emotive art.

Directly to women

The autobiographical nature of her work and its subtlety spoke directly to women in decades past, artists and non-artists alike, who came to regard Brooks as a feminist champion. Over time, the appeal of her work and the unflinching consistency reached across gender boundaries.

'A Tribute to Hope Brooks' also features work from artists who were influenced, directly and indirectly, by the work of this artist-turned-art educator. Petrine Archer-Straw, Margaret Chen, Nicholas Morris, Petrona Morrison and Ebony Patterson, all influential artists in their own right, share the walls of the Cag[e] gallery with Brooks.

In 1994, the Institute of Jamaica awarded Hope Brooks the silver Musgrave Medal for 'outstanding contribution to art education in Jamaica', acknowledging a career as lecturer and art administrator which has eventually spanned four decades. Brooks was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame in 2003.

No new works were created for the exhibition, according to Poupeye. Instead, the curator, with the able assistance of Cleve Bowen and Marlon James, chose a range of pieces from the private collections of such notables as David Boxer, Wallace Campbell, Garth Sanguinetti and Evan Williams. There are also pieces from the National Gallery of Jamaica and the collection of the artist.

The selections are interesting per se, as they seem to tell viewers something about the collectors themselves. 'Summer Window', from Boxer's collection, is emotive and warm and is an almost completely emotive view from inside on a day that must have been as warm outside as it was 'inside'. Master Goldsmith Sanguinetti was no doubt drawn to the mixed media work titled 'Earth Painting' because of the combination of unbridled imagination and structural discipline.

Delicate searching

'Kai - From Self Portrait in Search of the Essence of Life' is one of the most recent pieces in the exhibition. It shows Brooks still stretching boundaries and experimenting with media. A photographic transfer mixed with paint on a canvas that hangs loose, instead of being stretched tight, gives us Brooks' characteristic delicate searching and revolutionary use of materials. The image of a girl sits inside a wooden frame that is really also a photograph, lending an ambiguity to the container of the image which itself has no frame. Little wonder that this piece still belongs to the artist. She is probably very connected to it.

The exhibition, which runs until April 22, was opened by guest speaker Patrick Stanigar, architect and neighbour of Poupeye, who had nothing but glowing praise for Hope Brooks. The soft-spoken Brooks made no speeches at her own tribute, and chose instead to let other artists and their work speak for her. If these others are anything to go by, Edna Manley College is saying goodbye to a profound artist who has had a significant impact on Jamaican art in a relatively short span of time.

The good news is, although Brooks is bidding the college farewell, she did say she would continue to create. With less of her time consumed by administrative duties, it should be interesting to see what develops in the years to come.