Caribbean Art - 9780500203064

The complex and colorful world of Caribbean art reflects the region's African, European, Asian, and native heritage. Despite the ethnic, linguistic, and political diversity of Caribbean artists, there is a cultural unity in their work that distinguishes it in the larger context of North American and Latin American art. Following a discussion of the pre-Columbian and colonial eras, the author describes how pioneering national art movements in the first half of the twentieth century helped to define an indigenous aesthetic, and how revolution, anti-imperialism, and race-consciousness in the turbulent sixties and seventies affected the face of art. There is a strong relationship between Caribbean popular culture and art, and the book explores the importance of African-Caribbean religions such as Voodoo, Santaria, and Rastfarianism, as well as the influence of Trinidad carnival, the Junkanoo masquerade of the Bahamas, and similar traditions. This wonderfully illustrated survey covers a wide range of artists who have lived and worked in the Caribbean, as well as those who have left the islands but whose background plays a significant role in their work, providing a compelling look at a great body of original and imaginative art.