The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features 
Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

WORKING day and night to make sure her upcoming show will be a success, Bahamian artist Angelika Wallace-Whitfield is excited to present her recent works in the “Moments & Movements” exhibition on May 28.

The official opening of the exhibit, which aims to capture a variety of things – animals, the human figure, and a combination of both – is scheduled to be held at the D’Aguilar Art Foundation from 6pm to 9pm.

With the works in “Moments & Movements”, Angelika, who is the curator at the D’Aguilar Art Foundation and a curatorial assistant at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, said “instinctive” and “simple” were the key words this time around.

“As of late, I have been finding a release within the abstract gestures of these pieces.

“They are smaller than I normally work on.

“Working large will always be my first love, but as an artist, limitations are death to creativity and through breaking these barriers creation happens,” she told Tribune Arts and Entertainment.

Just recently, Angelika presented a well-attended exhibition at the Doongalik Studios Art Gallery entitled “Father Knowledge, Mother Tongue”.

With that show, Angelika said she attempted to reveal the concealment of certain identity issues to create a confrontation of these issues that people tend to ignore.

With her style of artwork moving from picturesque to instinctive and fluid, she has been able to take the realistic and abstract and place it next to another object or in another position to change its meaning, she said.

Angelika said she chose “Moments & Movements” for this upcoming exhibition because she wanted a title that didn’t limit the work she produces.

“I wanted something open-ended. ‘Moments and Movements’ can relate to the gestures within the pieces and also where I am right now. I have to keep my goal in mind and keep moving, but I try to enjoy the present. I’m too much of a forward thinker and tend to miss the here and now,” she said.

While the show does not have an overriding theme, Angelika reiterated that the title captures her current situation and the subject of each piece.

She said there is a continuation of the animalistic series in the show.
Art lovers can look forward to viewing more than 30 of Angelika’s pieces at the upcoming show.

Angelika said she is looking forward to what she always looks forward to at her shows: for every person in attendance to allow themselves to be moved and open their eyes.

Moreover, she said, the event is also a fundraiser to aid her enrolment at the University of Arts London this September, so she would like to make some sales.

The exhibition will run for six to eight weeks.

Going forward, Angelika said her plan is to be accepted into university to study art history and visual culture.

“One of my goals is to become a lecturer at the College of the Bahamas and take advantage of any other opportunity that comes my way,” said Angelika.