Against The Wind (Roadmap series)
Illustrating the inextricable ties that historically link Caymanians to both land and sea, John Broad’s Roadmap series adopts the informational coordinates of the artist’s source imagery as a receptive ground for illustration. With silhouetted figures and gestural marks overlaying cartographic renderings of Grand Cayman, Broad’s work subtly alludes to the waning of cultural traditions through the unrelenting march of development – a phenomenon that has dramatically transformed the fractured landscapes embedded in his work.
About the Artist
John Broad
b. 1947
John Broad graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a degree in painting and drawing, and from the University of London with a teaching qualification. He taught art in Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, before settling in the Cayman Islands. His work is influenced by the Islands’ maritime culture and is recognisable for its loose brushwork and bold palette. Broad has taught in local schools and at University College of the Cayman Islands and has run numerous workshops on behalf of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands and the Visual Arts Society. In addition, he has created two commissioned murals in George Town (The Walls of History in 2004 for NGCI and Fort George for the National Trust in 2012), and in 2009 was chosen to exhibit in London and Berlin with Art Below. Previously, Broad won the Carib Art poster competition in 1992 and was a recipient of the CNCF award for achievement in art education, as well as for his contribution to the arts of the Cayman Islands in 2003. His work was featured in the prestigious international travelling exhibition Carib Art (1995), and many NGCI exhibitions including Founded Upon the Seas (2012), Art of Assemblage (2013), All Access (2015), Saltwater in their Veins (2017), Upon the Seas (2017), Mediating Self (2017), Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019), and Island of Women: Life at Home During our Maritime Years (2020).
