LEXINGTON, Ky.Young artists Ebony G. Patterson
and Oneika Russell bring fresh insight to their Jamaican culture by examining
notions of identity in Mi Did Deh Deh. Morlan Gallery’s first exhibition of 2009
opened Friday, January 9, and runs through February 27. The exhibit is free and
open to the public.
“Both Patterson and Russell work in a vivid and confrontational style that
imparts the feeling of receiving a first-hand account of the social and
political currents in Jamaica,” said Morlan Gallery Director Andrea Fisher.
“Therefore, the exhibition is called Mi Did Deh Deh, meaning I Was There in the
Jamaican dialect.”
Russell is an artist working in Kingston in digital and traditional media. Her
work is generally made up of drawings, objects, digital animations and video.
Her Morlan Gallery work includes two video pieces and a series of photographs
exploring Manet's painting, Olympia. In this well-known painting, a young nude
woman reclines on her day bed, yet the figure behind Olympia has been virtually
ignored in art history. Russell takes a long look at the black servant woman in
the background, drawing attention to the role of the black woman, giving her a
voice and an identity.
Patterson, a University of Kentucky assistant professor of painting, also draws
attention to identity in her Disciplez Series, a collection of mixed media
pieces that examine the culture of dancehall, a type of Jamaican popular music
that is less political and less religious than roots style reggae. Through a
series of larger than life portraits, Patterson challenges the perceptions of
masculinity as presented in dancehall culture and calls into question the
current practice of skin bleaching, prevalent in Jamaican dancehall and street
culture.
Patterson will deliver a gallery talk about her work on Wednesday, January 21,
from 12:30-1:20 p.m. in the Morlan Gallery. This event is free and open to the
public.
The gallery’s regular hours are Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. and by special
appointment. The gallery will also be open for the Lexington Gallery Hop on
Friday, February 20, from 5-8 p.m. The gallery will be closed Martin Luther King
Jr. Day—Monday, January 19. For more information, contact gallery director
Andrea Fisher at (859) 233-8142.
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