Soon Come: The Contemporary Art of Jamaica

September 26 - December 15, 2002
East Gallery

Soon Come: the Art of Contemporary Jamaica brings together works by twenty artists working in painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and textiles. The exhibition title is taken from the Jamaican vernacular expression "soon come," which translates as "Great things happen when the time is right." The works reflect western artistic influences, such as expressionism and minimalism, but they address issues of slavery, immigration, and the history of this former British plantation colony.

Jamaica has been independent only since 1962, and its development as a nation in the modern world has often been turbulent and painful. This is vividly reflected in Jamaican art and culture today, which revolves largely around explorations of ethnicity and cultural identity. A major theme of the exhibition is an exploration of the stylistic and conceptual differences between those artists who studied in the United States and Europe, and those whose work is based on the learned artistic traditions of Jamaican art.

Soon Come showcases the work of some of the premier artists working in Jamaica today, including David Boxer, Hope Brooks, and Cecil Cooper, as well as Jamaican artists living and working abroad, such as Albert. These works, by artists with diverse ethnic backgrounds and artistic training, defy stereotypes of Jamaican culture.

Soon Come was organized by the Nebraska Arts Council, the Edna Manley School for the Visual and Performing Arts, and ExhibitsUSA. A color catalog available in the Fleming Museum Store includes essays by David Boxer, Ph.D., Director of the National Gallery of Jamaica, and Veerley Pouopeye, a respected art historian of Jamaican and Caribbean art.

This exhibition is supported in part by the Provost's Central Diversity Fund and Air Jamiaca. A program of ExhibitsUSA