Jamaican sculptor, Basil Watson and his artist son, Kai, at the 'Art Off the Main' exhibition in Chelsea, NYC.

AMONG THE exhibitors this year in 'Art Off The Main', an annual art exposition put on by Savacou Gallery in New York City, were Jamaican father-and-son team, Basil and Kai Watson.

Basil, a well-known sculptor, is son of the celebrated Barrington Watson, and Kai, a third-generation Watson, is carrying the artistic tradition of his family forward.

Kai brought to life Jamaica's Olympic glory in Beijing in his replica on canvas of triple-gold medallist, Usain Bolt, which simply wowed the audience at the art show.

Despite this time of recession and downswings, art lovers in the United States have not lost their appetite for Caribbean and African-inspired works.

Record prices

The market has opened up for this type of art, which is now fetching record prices in the world's art capitals.

Loris Crawford, director of Savacou Gallery in New York City and founder of the 'Art Off The Main' annual art exposition, says that these artists are getting the opportunity to increasingly showcase their works in important markets like New York.

Crawford, recently staged her fifth annual 'Art Off The Main' art fair at the Metropolitan Pavilion North in Chelsea, featuring artists from over 20 countries.

The exposition provided curators, collectors and novices alike, the opportunity to view and collect paintings, sculpture, photography and original prints by established and emerging artists.

Crawford says the exhibition captures the impact of the Caribbean in the international arena and demonstrates the well-spring of creative talent in the region. "There is a rising interest in Caribbean art among museums, art collectors and in the media," says Crawford.

As October is also 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month', the art fair opened with a 'Paint It Pink' reception to raise breast cancer awareness in young women of colour. This is a major public health issue in the United States.

Ticket sales benefited the diversity programme of Young Survival Coalition, a community of young breast-cancer survivors seeking to educate the public, the medical, research and legislative communities on the issue of breast cancer in women 40 years old and under.

Donations from the fair were also made to Haiti's hurricane relief efforts.