Anchored in Landscapes
Cayman Compass
After several recent group collaborations highlighting assemblage, installation and multimedia, the National Gallery returns to a more traditional medium this month with a two-man exhibition
‘Anchored in Landscapes’. Featuring the work of artists David Bridgeman and Chris Mann, this show is a celebration of colour and a salute to the pungent atmosphere of our tropical environment.
Having resided in Cayman for years, these artists and friends need little introduction. For almost two decades Mann, head of the art department at George Hicks High School, and Bridgeman, teacher at Cayman Prep and High School, have enjoyed a solid reputation in the local arts community as educators and as serious artists in their own right.
This collaboration, considered a natural partnership by the show’s curator, was inspired by each artist’s complementary styles. Both share roots in expressionism, an art movement celebrated at the early twentieth century in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse. Symbols are often used throughout their work to convey a thought or a feeling, together with strong gestural strokes, collage, colours and dynamic application of the formal elements. The large, vibrant canvases capture the viewers’ attention immediately and provoke an emotional reaction.
This exciting two-man exhibition combines the work of these artists and friends, art that complements but ultimately shows the unique vision of these talented artists.