THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS ANNUAL ART COMPETITION

OPEN CATEGORY
‘REDEFINING THE PORTRAIT ’

EXHIBITION OPENING AND AWARD CEREMONY
WEDNESDAY OCT. 21ST 6 PM

‘REDEFINING THE PORTRAIT' - WED. OCT. 21ST AT 6PM

THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS ART GALLERY'S
26TH ANNUAL ART COMPETITION AND EXHIBITION

OPEN CATEGORY
‘REDEFINING THE PORTRAIT ’

EXHIBITION OPENING AND AWARD CEREMONY
WEDNESDAY OCT. 21ST 6 PM

EXHIBITION RUNS
OCT. 5TH - OCT. 30TH - 2009
WEEKDAYS 9:30AM - 4:30PM

THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS
FREDERICK STREET
CBOBGALLERY.BLOGSPOT.COM

PHYSICAL [FRI. SEPT 11 6PM]

PHYSICAL

FRI. SEPT 11 6PM

new work

john cox / heino schmid

PHYSICAL / OPENS 6PM SEPTEMBER 11

PHYSICAL: Art Exhibition Opening by John Cox and Heino Schmid
Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery
Frederick Street, Nassau, The Bahamas
September 11, 2009, from 6:00-9:00pm

Exhibition runs from September 2 - October 2, 2009.

Ms. Nettie Symonette at CBOB Art Gallery, Friday July 17, 6pm

Please join us

Friday July 17 at 6pm

for the exhibition opening of 

Ms. Nettie Symonette's first solo show of paintings at 

The Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery, Market Street.

Exhibition runs: July 7 - August 7, 2009. Monday - Friday,  9:30 am - 4:30 pm.

Please call 327-8154, 327-7922 or email cbobgallery@gmail.com for more information.

-------------------------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE

  

Ms. Nettie Symonette, now in her 75th year, bought her first painting supplies in 1992 as a way to begin a possible new hobby. Circumstances, however, kept her from painting until 2003 after a self induced exile to the Abacos to write her memoirs. During this time Ms. Symonette began her experiments with initial studies of simple landscape compositions which she often repeated and where color quickly became the primary emphasis. These were painted primarily on table clothes, napkins and other fabrics, and then in 2004 the landscapes and other representation completely disappeared from her work and Ms. Symontte’s present body of work began to evolve.

 

This body of work on show now at The Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery serves as an introduction to Ms. Symonette’s growing visual vocabulary. The paintings are filled with color that dance between geometric shapes and aggressively painted abstract compositions, and are often created as diptychs where one panel is painted and then mirrored with a second (almost identical) painting. Though non-representational in a formal sense the paintings are filled with narrative according to Ms. Symonette, “…each painting is a treasure, filled with stories”. With titles like, ‘Worming My Way Through’, and ‘A Buzzing Overhead’, it is difficult not to presuppose some sort of an anecdotal tale behind the paintings.

 

Although Ms. Nettie Symonette has worked for the last 54 years in the hotel industry when asked about her painting she simply says, “My work is inspirational art, and the inspiration is life… the paintings and their titles describe life. And I want people to feel that.”

 

Please join us in celebrating this extraordinary Bahamian when her exhibition ‘Nettie Symonette: Recent Paintings’ opens Friday July 17 at 6:00 pm at The Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery, Market Street.  The Exhibition will be on view weekdays from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm until August 7, 2009.

 

Heino Schmid

Curator

The Central Bank of The Bahamas

Art Gallery

MAJOR CHANGES TO THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS ANNUAL ART COMPETITION

PRESS RELEASE

The Annual Competition and Exhibition has been split from its 25 year format of hanging both High School and Open Categories in one exhibition to two separate exhibitions. As of 2009 The Central Bank of the Bahamas will hold The Open Category component of the competition in October and The High School Category component will remain on the exhibition schedule for the month of November.

The High School Category will remain in its present format with much of the same Guidelines as in previous years. The major changes will be:

• A clearer specificity on the application as to the applicant’s age and graduation from high school.
  
• The implementation of an additional award for applicants fourteen years and under.
  

The Open Category component of the Competition will be altered significantly to accommodate the changing artistic landscape in The Bahamas. The major changes to The Open Category will be:

• The Open Category will be permanently moved it to the month of October.
  
• It will be open to the entire professional visual art community (artists over 18 years old).
  
• The present multiple awards will be condensed to a single $7,000 cash prize winner simply called The Central Bank Award.
  
• Work for this new Open Category would be submitted under a theme, which will change annually (the theme for the following year would be announced with each competition’s winner) and will provide a major criteria for judging.
  

With a lack of grants available for the specific development of visual arts in The Bahamas The Central Bank of The Bahamas hopes to fill this void with this Award. Although the structure of this new Open Category will remain a competition in a formal sense, it is The Central Bank’s hope that the $7,000 cash prize would be viewed as direct funding for future art projects. With this in mind the winner of The Central Bank Award will be invited to exhibit at the CBOB Art Gallery for a solo exhibition at their discretion.

Please see the revised applications and guidelines for further information at www.centralbankbahamas.com/galleries or contact the gallery's curator at cbobgallery@gmail.com.