Traveling Exhibition
Dust Specks on the Sea:
Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti
About the exhibition:
Dust Specks on the Sea: Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti / Des grains de poussière sur la mer: Sculpture contemporaine des Caraïbes françaises et d’Haïti
Hunter East Harlem Gallery, November 7, 2018 - March 2, 2019
Exhibiting artists: Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc (US tour), Raphaël Barontini, Sylvia Berté, Julie Bessard, Hervé Beuze, Jean-François Boclé, Alex Burke, Vladimir Cybil Charlier, Gaëlle Choisne, Ronald Cyrille, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Kenny Dunkan, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Adler Guerrier, Jean-Marc Hunt, Nathalie Leroy-Fiévée, Audry Liseron-Monfils, Louisa Marajo, Ricardo Ozier-Lafontaine, Jérémie Paul, Marielle Plaisir, Michelle Lisa Polissaint and Najja Moon, Tabita Rezaire, Yoan Sorin, Jude Papaloko Thegenus, Kira Tippenhauer
EXHIBITION TOUR:
Little Haiti Cultural Center, Miami, FL : March 7th - November 14, 2020
516 ARTS, Albuquerque, NM : June 19, 2021 - September 18, 2021
San Francisco Art Institute, SF, CA : November 18, 2021 - April 2, 2022
Villa du Parc, Annemasse, France : June 11 - September 18, 2022
La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France : October 15, 2022 - January 29, 2023
Fræme, Marseille, France : Winter/Spring 2024
CAC Passerelle, Brest, France : Summer 2024
In 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle visited Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana on official state business. Flying over the Caribbean Sea, de Gaulle described the islands as “dust specks on the sea.” His quote evokes an otherworldly aerial view of the Caribbean archipelago, while also revealing a deep-seated hierarchical perspective of the region, stemming from France’s history as a powerful colonizing force in the Caribbean. Challenging this colonial perception, Dust Specks on the Sea focuses on sculptural works by twenty-seven artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, & Haiti. It presents various approaches to subject matter, materials, and process that speak to contemporary practices by artists of this region, evincing their participation in a globalized art world and putting pressure on notions of who is at its “center” and who is on its “periphery.”
The French Caribbean is made up of two islands—Guadeloupe and Martinique—and the state of French Guiana, which sits on the northeastern edge of South America. These Overseas Departments are officially governed by, and are politically, economically, and socially connected to, France. In the Greater Antilles, the nation of Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. In 1804, after over a decade of rebellion led by slaves, Haiti gained independence from France and forever changed the history of French sovereignty in the Caribbean.
In Dust Specks on the Sea, this history is undeniably present, but these artists are not bound to make artwork that didactically demonstrates the conditions of the region and its colonial trauma. Rather, they play all fields: expressing their personal relationships to heritage, navigating art-making in the globalized contemporary art world, and looking beyond their cultural background for inspiration and ideas. Their works are placed in direct conversation with one another, evoking a network of ideas amongst a mosaic of individual artistic approaches. The result is a space that is not completely Caribbean, not completely European, and not completely independent; the exhibition and its artworks live somewhere in the grey area between all three. Through presenting a sculpture-based exhibition in a distinctive way, we hope to build a visual dialogue about how artwork can be one of the most powerful tools for personal and political expression.
The exhibition is curated by former Hunter East Harlem Gallery Director Arden Sherman
Curatorial assistance by Katie Hood Morgan & Marie Vickles
Support for the exhibition is generously provided by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and Hunter College. Additional support provided by the Directions of Cultural Affairs of Martinique and of Guadeloupe and the FACE Foundation.
Generous support for the artwork Bananas Deluxe, by Jean-Marc Hunt, has been provided by Chiquita Brands. Tabita Rezaire's artwork Peaceful Warrior was made possible by loans from: John Speier of The Crystal Cave Rock & Gem Shop, Davie, FL; Mama’s Minerals, Albuquerque, NM; The Stone Room, Berkeley, CA.
Press
NEW YORK CITY 2018-2019:
New York Times What to See in New York Art Galleries Right Now
Aica Caraïbe du Sud Sculptures de la Caraïbe francophone à New-York
Repeating Islands DUST SPECKS ON THE SEA
Gotham To Go The Hunter East Harlem Gallery Presents French Caribbean Art in Dust Specks on the Sea
Artforum Hunter East Harlem Gallery, Dust Specks on the Sea
NY Art Beat Dust Specks on the Sea
MIAMI, 2020:
Contemporary And, 2020 Installation view #museumshutdown Dust Specks on the Sea – Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti
ALBUQUERQUE, 2021:
“Dust storm” by Michael Abatemarco for Pasatiempo/Santa Fe New Mexican
“Review: Dust Specks on the Sea at 516 ARTS in Albuquerque” by Daisy Geoffrey for Southwest Contemporary
“Historic Currents: Exhibit aims to overturn colonial bias with works from the Caribbean” by Kathaleen Roberts for Albuquerque Journal
NARM Association: Dust Specks on the Sea
SAN FRANCISCO, 2021 - 22:
