(New York, NY, September 10, 2018) The exhibition John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night will be presented at the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) from October 30, 2018 to February 24, 2019.  Organized by the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), this is the first exhibition of the work of Jamaican artist John Dunkley outside of his native country.  The exhibition is curated by Diana Nawi, independent curator and co-artistic director of Prospect 5, New Orleans, with Nicole Smythe-Johnson, independent curator, and David Boxer, curatorial advisor.  Valérie Rousseau, Ph.D., curator of self-taught art and art brut at AFAM, is the coordinating curator. The show is composed of forty-five works, including rare carved wood and stone figurative sculptures alongside paintings from the 1930s and 1940s, which are known for their distinctive dark palette and psychologically suggestive underpinnings. 

“John Dunkley is widely considered to be one of Jamaica’s most significant artists,” says Jason T. Busch, director of AFAM.  “His scenes of lush Caribbean life are filled with references to the political, economic, and social issues roiling Jamaica during its colonial period.  His art is overdue for international attention, and we are pleased that we can share the American debut of Dunkley’s work with Perez Art Museum Miami.”

Dr. Rousseau adds that, “Dunkley was working at a pivotal time in Jamaica’s history – the 1930s and 1940s. His work reflects the racial tension, economic inequality, and fomenting calls for independence felt by Jamaicans and other Caribbean islanders.  As recalled by the exhibition’s curators, his activity coincided with the debates about the search for an ‘authentic’ Jamaican expression that preceded the independence movement.  Dunkley was not formally trained as an artist, but he engaged with his historical moment.  His oeuvre is a particular exploration of personal and cultural identity with a complicated, often dark take on island life.” 

John Dunkley (1891-1947) left no written or oral first-person record, and his fame is largely posthumous. Like many of his impoverished black countrymen, he sought work throughout the Caribbean, working for a time in Cuba and on a banana plantation in Panama, a locale that seems

to have inspired a number of his works.  He took up painting in the last decade or so of his life, working as a barber by day and as an artist at night in a studio behind his Kingston shop. A self-taught artist, he read and studied art publications at the Institute of Jamaica.  His work shows

similarities to the ones of Henri Rousseau, with the stylized vegetation of his jungle paintings, or evokes the atmosphere and forms of surrealist work.    He died at the age of 56, after having received some local recognition for his artwork from group exhibitions. 

Highlights of the exhibition include the following:

• Three Spanish Jars, n.d., mixed media on canvas, showing the moon/sun shining over a cluttered landscape.

• Lonely Road, n.d., mixed media on plywood, showing a path vanishing into the high horizon.

• Feeding the Fishes, 1940, mixed media on plywood, with a figure on a ledge feeding a school of fish beneath a protuberance over a ravine below.

• Acrobat, n.d., a mahogany carving of a man who contorts himself into a position of having his head through his legs beneath his posterior.

Public programming for John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night will include critical walk-throughs with contemporary artists, art-making workshops, and guided tours.

Critical Walk-through: Nari Ward

January 10, 2019

New York-based artist Nari Ward will discuss his work and practice engaging with migration and citizenship, community, and his native Jamaica, while exploring how they relate to the exhibition John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night. A Critical Walk-through is a 40-minute guided tour that is meant to offer an alternative perspective to the works on view. It includes conversations with artists, scholars, and curators, providing an intimate opportunity to engage with the central themes and histories found in the artwork.

Post-Colonial Visions and John Dunkley

February 7, 2018

This panel discussion will expand on the historical and political context of John Dunkley's lifetime in pre-independence Jamaica, including intersections with Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism. Speakers include Professor Deborah Thomas from the University of Pennsylvania, author Olive Senior, and Professor Justin Williams from the City College of New York. The panel will be moderated by exhibition co-curator Diana Nawi. 

Dialog + Studio: Block Printing Workshop

Date tbd

Inspired by the palette and patterning in John Dunkley’s paintings, teaching artist Joiri Minaya will lead a block-printing textile workshop and discuss connections with her own art and practice.

Exhibition credits

John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night is organized by Pérez Art Museum Miami, and sponsored by Davidoff Art Initiative.  The presentation at AFAM is supported in part by the David Davies and Jack Weeden Art Fund for Exhibitions, the Ford Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the city Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Publication

The accompanying 224-page illustrated catalog (English and Spanish) is composed of texts by Diana Nawi, with David Boxer, Olive Senior, and Nicole Smythe-Johnson (Prestel, 2017).  

About the American Folk Art Museum

Founded in 1961, the American Folk Art Museum is the premier institution devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of traditional folk art and creative expressions of contemporary self-­taught artists from the United States and abroad. The museum preserves, conserves, and interprets a comprehensive collection of the highest quality, with objects dating from the eighteenth century to the present.  For more information, please visit www.folkartmuseum.org