Caribbean Artists Showcase Their Art in February at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus
- Galleries also to feature silk portraits by Susan Abrams -

Brooklyn, N.Y.—In February, the galleries at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus will showcase diverse art works by a group of Caribbean artists, silk portraits by artist Susan Abrams and media arts projects by graduate students in the Campus Media Arts program. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Running from February 4 to February 29 in the Campus’s Salena Gallery is the “Caribbeance” Group Exhibition.

In 2006, veteran Guyanese artist Claude Hoyte banded together with other artists - Jerry Barry (Guyana), Humberto Cruz (Cuba), Juan Andreu (Colombia) and Stanwyck Cromwell (Guyana) - to form an art society. Their mission was to serve the needs of the wider artistic community, especially emerging artists, when the artist Herb G. Bennett introduced the idea of a movement called Caribbeance to represent the creative essence of the Caribbean.

The theme of the Salena Gallery show is “Directions.” It provides a vehicle for established and emerging artists to connect with the larger art community through their powerful and unique visual statements.

Running concurrently, in the Campus’s Humanities Building Gallery, is an exhibition of silk portraits by Susan Abrams. A reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, February 7, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This installation consists of layered portraits of women, printed on silk. “We all have ‘faces’ we present to the world,” says the artist. “There are aspects of ourselves that we reveal or hide under various circumstances. The botanical veils echo the partial way we reveal ourselves to others, consciously or unconsciously, obscuring the image but not hiding it entirely. The imagery of the veils provides a familiar vocabulary, one organic in nature, representing the female generative force.”

Also in February, in the Campus’s Resnick Gallery, is the Media Arts Department’s M.A. Thesis Exhibition featuring works by students Lei Zhou and Doris Rutherford.

Hours for the Salena and Resnick galleries are from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday/Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the Humanities Building Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed weekends. Admission to the galleries is free. For more information, call Gallery Director Nancy Grove at (718) 488-1198.

Posted: February 4, 2008

Media contact: (718) 488-1015