Untitled (Christmas Scene)
This nocturnal scene creates a carnival-like atmosphere, replete with Kitchen band musicians and gyrating dancers. Utilising a chiaroscuro technique to create a theatrical contrast of haloed light and shadow, Long introduces a cast of colourful characters to create a humorous representation of holiday festivities—a candle bearing child and costumed Father Christmas in the foreground, whilst the silhouette of a mysterious figure peers out towards the viewer from a hammock.
About the Artist
Charles Long
b. 1948
Born in West Africa, Charles Long grew up in Swaziland and England, where he attended Farnham School of Art. He settled in the Cayman Islands in the late 1960s and became a founding member and first secretary of the Visual Art Society. Long has been dubbed a “chronicler of our times”, a phrase that became the title of a 2002 retrospective of his work at NGCI. Other key exhibitions include the Santo Domingo Biennale (2003) and Carifesta X in Guyana (2008). Long’s highly collectable work forms part of the permanent collections of NGCI and the Cayman Islands National Museum. NGCI exhibitions include the solo show Charles Long – Chronicler of Our Time (2002), Portrait of an Artist (2003), All Access (2015), Mediating Self (2017), Tropical Visions (2019), and Island of Women: Life at Home During our Maritime Years (2020).
