Exhibition
Entitled Charles Long – Chronicler of Our Time, this retrospective was the artist’s first solo show at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. Consisting of 72 paintings spanning the artist’s then 30-year career, the exhibition was arranged into four distinct categories – Architecture, Trees and Nature, Domestic Life, and Seaside Life. In differing ways, each of these sub-themes traced the creative practice of a local artistic pioneer, revealing Long’s abiding preoccupation with the everyday sights and scenes of the Caymanian cultural experience—a perpetual source of inspiration that remains the foundation of the artist’s work to this day.
Among the featured artworks were three-dimensional installations, alongside a collection of works on board and canvas which demonstrated the artist’s gradual transition towards his signature style of painting. As well as capturing the quality of light and colour of our Islands, the imagery presented throughout told the story of a small island nation on the cusp of dramatic social and economic transformation, with subjects ranging from bustling street scenes and depictions of domestic life, to images that capture traditional cottages and sand yards, alongside the detailed rendering of tropical vegetation—features that continue to define Long’s inimitable style.
Charles Long – Chronicler of Our Time was curated by former Director Nancy Barnard and was on view at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands’ former location at Harbour Place from 10 May – 7 September 2002.
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).
