Community Art Gallery
The sculpture project and our newly formed links with
art galleries across Portsmouth have created the beginnings of our first
Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) art gallery at the centre.
Our aim is to support BME artists by providing a display
venue and opportunity to sell their work to the wider community. It is
hoped that this project will lead to an annual programme of events and
exhibitions for local BME artists which will be run in partnership with
the local community.
About the Artist - Adelaide Damoah
I am a female artist of Ghanaian descent. I am self
taught and have been painting for a number of years now. I have not always
been an artist; I have a degree in Applied Biology from Kingston University.
After my degree, I became a medical representative for a large pharmaceutical
company. I had started painting during my secondary school years in the
late 80's. I continued painting as a hobby at home after leaving school,
after being inspired by the life and works of artist Frieda Kahlo. However,
It was not until the completion of my degree that I started to take it
more seriously than a hobby.
The process started after a period of prolonged illness in 2000. I was
diagnosed as having the female medical condition endometriosis. I began
to paint again, using oils for the first time to escape the boredom and
pain brought on by the condition. It was during this time that I produced
most of my more abstract work which focused on my pain and emotions.
Friends and family started to notice what I was doing and pretty soon,
word started to spread, and I was getting requests for commissions. I continued
doing private commissions in my spare time as well as working on my more
personal abstract pieces. In Summer 2005, I decided to showcase my art
to the world and started working on the pictures and planning for the exhibition
in February 2006.
In my debut exhibition 'Black Brits' I adhere to my favoured arena of portraiture
(using oils) and through a series of 30 (13 of which were exhibited) works
pose the double edged question of, how do we British respond to our white
national icons when portrayed with black skins and conversely, how do we
respond to black icons painted with white skins? It also raises the question
for those of African and Caribbean extraction born or residing in this
country: why there are so few among their number that achieve iconic status
and what does it take to do so?
Subjects included in the exhibition include
David Beckham, Sir Trevor Macdonald; Lady Thatcher; Winston Churchill;
Frank Bruno and Princess Diana.
The works measure 40 by 40 inches in size and are all oil on canvas. The
exhibition has provoked widespread debate and discussion and has been featured
in the press.
Next - Watch this Space Exhibition
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