2nd Annual Cecil Cooper Scholarship Exhibition Catalogue

SCHOLARSHIP EXHIBITION Cecil Cooper

Cecil Cooper Foundation

SCHOLARSHIP EXHIBITION C ecil Cooper

Featuring the works of Cecil Cooper, his former students and colleagues

Untitled . Cecil Cooper. 1998, Acrylic on paper (5.25” x 7.25”).

C ecil Cooper

FEATURING ARTISTS

SCHOLARSHIP EXHIBITION

Greg Bailey

Kimani Beckford

John Campbell

Camille Chedda

Chandis Beckford

Mabusha Dennis

Lee-Ann Haslam

Oliver Myrie

Sana Rose

Bryan McFarlane

Phillip Thomas

ABOUT CECIL COOPER

Cecil Cooper C.D., was born in the parish of Hanover, Jamaica, in 1946 and was one of the first graduates, in 1966, of the full-time diploma that had been introduced at the Jamaica School of Art and graduated top of his class. He made a grand entrance into the world of art and music in New York in the 1970s with a special scholarship to the Art Students League and the school of Visual Arts in New York City, where he studied and obtained a BFA, and later an MFA.

Cecil Cooper worked mainly in paint media, using gestural painting and drawing techniques, and his thematic preoccupation with the joys and anxieties of the human condition, and particularly the central roles of women in society, reflected a romantic temperament that was also evident in his musical work as a classical tenor. He exhibited regularly at the National Gallery of Jamaica, the Mutual Gallery, Round Hill and the Olympia Art Gallery. He has exhibited in a number of overseas galleries such as the Lied Art Gallery in Nebraska, Marpad Gallery, in Florida, Brooklyn Museum Community Gallery, Bratton Gallery and Savacou Gallery in New York City. His work is represented in many private, corporate and public collections, including the collection of the National Gallery of Jamaica.

Cecil Cooper served as head of the painting department for his alma mater, the Jamaica School of Art, now part of the Edna Manley College until his retirement in 2009 and has taught and mentored many noted younger artists. He also served as a member of the National Gallery of Jamaica’s Board of Management and was awarded the Institute of Jamaica’s Bronze Musgrave Medal for his contribution to painting and art education as well as the Jamaican National Honour, the Order of Distinction (Commander Class), for his invaluable contribution to the arts.

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

(Untitled) Heart Throb

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

THE CECIL COOPER FOUNDATION

The Cecil Cooper Foundation was launched simultaneously with the inaugural Cecil Cooper Scholarship Exhibition on June 17th 2022, to honour the work and legacy of the late great Jamaican Artist & Singer, Cecil Cooper. The Foundation’s mission is to assist the arts and culture as well as those who study and work within the space. Cecil Cooper battled cancer in the last few weeks of his life, which influenced a decision that the Foundation also provides aid in the field of health and wellness.

THE SKY GALLERY

The Sky Gallery (TSG) is the only dedicated physical and online art gallery with a multifunctional event space in Kingston and St Andrew, Jamaica. It offers end-to-end support for exhibitions, events, and other creative collaborations. Established in 2021, TSG presents rotating monthly exhibitions by artists from across the region, providing exposure to a wider prospective audience and enabling their growth and development within their chosen profession. In addition to monthly exhibitions, the Gallery hosts specially curated events and offers venues for rental to individuals and organizations seeking a versatile and centrally located space.

TSG Events:

AWP: Art Wine Poetry (Every 2nd Thursday)

FUTS: Film Under The Sky (Every Third Friday)

IG: @theskygalleryja

Website: theskygalleryja.com

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

(Untitled) Embrace

Cecil Cooper

Acrylic Painting

33” x 25”, 2011

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7 Page 6

INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SILENT AUCTION

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on an -

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will

Title: Reverie, 2012

Artist: Cecil Cooper

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Size: 60” x 55”

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

or visit cecilcooperfoundation.com

Professor Emeritus

This Cecil Cooper painting has been selected for an International Online Silent Auction. The proceeds from the sale of this major work shall go to scholarships and bursaries for students of the Arts. The auction will open simultaneously with the opening of the Exhibition, and will close on the final day. This auction is being conducted virtually/online at cecilcooperfoundation.com, allowing persons to bid from all across the globe. The successful bid will be announced on July 16, 2023. Throughout the auction the physical painting remains on display at The Sky Gallery (9-11 Phoenix Avenue, Kingston 10).

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Bryan McFarlane

Last Dance, 2003 | Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7 Page 8

Scan for auction

ABOUT GREG BAILEY

Greg Bailey

Greg Bailey was born in 1986, in Trelawny, Jamaica. He attended the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, where he was awarded a BFA degree in Painting in 2011. Bailey’s exhibitions have included the Jamaica 50th Anniversary Launch (2012), Stuttgart, Germany; and Social Atrocities (2014), Olympia Gallery, Kingston Jamaica, as well as the Jamaica Biennial 2014, Young Talent 2015 and Explorations IV: Masculinities (2015), which were held at the National Gallery of Jamaica. His work explores issues of race, history and society, using academic painting techniques and image-making conventions, which are referenced ironically. Bailey lives in St Catherine, Jamaica.

Multi-disciplinary artist

Lecturer at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT CHANDIS BECKFORD

Multi-disciplinary artist in Fine Art Painting

Co-founder of Pum Pum Poetry and Pottery

Making

Chandis Beckford is a multi-disciplinary artist in Fine Art painting, as well as co-founder of Pum Pum Poetry and pottery making, popularizing the draped hypertufa technique here in Jamaica. Her paintings utilize the female archetype and body as well as Jamaican cultural references to explore and visually discuss aspects of sexuality, spirituality and the everyday human experience. Working in a combined figuritave and expressionistic style with acrylic mediums, yarn and artificial silk flowers her paintings are bold and provocative. She has exhibited locally and internationally having one of her sculptural paintings titled ‘Pum Pum Petals: Pearls of Innocence’ as a permanent part of the Imago Mundi - Luciano Benetton Collection, Italy, 2017.

Her writings have been included in hardcopy magazines, online features and the book Caribbean Etotic - poetry, prose and essays, an anthology of Caribbean authors and most months she features her art pottery as a part of the Kingston Creative ArtWalk.

Eye of the Beholder

Chandis Beckford

Acrylic, yarn, silk flowers on canvas

30’” x 25” Visit

Chandis Beckford

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

USA

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT KIMANI BECKFORD

Born in 1988, St. Catherine, Jamaica, Beckford attended the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts were he attained a BFA degree in Painting 2011. In the same year, he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture. He has participated in several exhibitions both locally and abroad. Working mostly in paint media, Beckford explores the politics of race and representation in the contemporary context. Beckford lives in St Andrew, Jamaica.

Kimani Beckford

Fine Art Painter

Untitled (Greg Bailey)

Kimani

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page

ABOUT JOHN CAMPBELL

John Alexander Campbell was born on the 27th of May 1972 in Kingston, Jamaica. His artistic career commenced after high school when he worked for a newly formed airbrush t-shirt company Iya and then also Yabba Air . In 1992 he attended the Edna Manley College of the Visiual and Performing Arts where he majored in Painting and minored in Printmaking. In 1996 he spent 18 months as the Artist in residence at the Avant-Garde Gallery in Portland. He has exhibited in both group and solo shows here in Jamaica and abroad in Trinidad, USA and the UK. The Jamaica National Gallery, also being a core member of AIRTS and has consistently shown since their inception. John states that his works depict varying aspects of life and all its passions, the good the bad and the indifferent from a very personal perspective.

John Campbell

Fine Art Painter

ABOUT CAMILLE CHEDDA

Camille Chedda

Camille Chedda was born in Manchester, Jamaica. She graduated from the Edna Manley College with an Honours Diploma in Painting and received an MFA in Painting from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her works have been exhibited in documenta fifteen, the Museum of Latin American Art, the National Gallery of Jamaica’s Kingston Biennial (2022), Jamaica Biennial (2017, 2014, 2006), the Ghetto Biennale, Haiti (2015, 17), NLS Kingston and the Olympia Gallery. She is the recipient of awards, including the Albert Huie Award, the Reed Foundation Scholarship, the inaugural Dawn Scott Memorial Award, the British Council’s TAARE Program Award, the Catapult SHAR Grant and the Jamaica Art Society’s In Focus Fellowship. She has been an artist in residence at Alice Yard in Trinidad, Art Omi in New York, Hospitalfield in Scotland, the Catapult Stay Home Artist Residency, and the HOMO Sargassum Art Residency. She is the Project Manager of the Rubis Mécénat’s InPulse Art Project, and lectures at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

Multi-disciplinary artist

InPulse Art Project Manager

Lecturer at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7 Page

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7 Page 20

ABOUT MABUSHA DENNIS

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal

subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

Orchid

Mabusha Dennis

Acrylic on Canvas

31” x 42”, 2013

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT LEE-ANN HASLAM

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Lee-Ann Haslam studied art at The University of ITSON, Sonora, Mexico; Fordham, NY and Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan. She completed her Masters program with honours in Creative Glass at the Tokyo University of the Arts as a national Monbukagakusho scholar. Her works are rooted in glass, transcending various media with the themes of human perspective, light, colour, nature and emotions.

She believes art is never stagnant but always finding new forms of expression for connection. For that reason she shows great respect for the dichotomy of glass and states, “Glass is both strong and fragile, rewarding

and challenging. Anything you do to an area of surface affects the whole and there is much depth in that.” Haslam’s works have been exhibited worldwide and she has been featured in notable publications and media. Her commissions for reputable businesses include, Jamaica’s second largest insurance company, Jamaica International Insurance Company (JIIC), The Embassy of Jamaica, Japan, and for notable art enthusiasts and patrons, Pat Ramsey, the former Director of the Centre for the Arts UTech and Mutual Life Galleries, the Ambassador of China, Wayne McCook, and H.I.H Princess Hitachi of Japan, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, The Most Honourable Portia Simpson-Miller, and H.E Abdulla bin Mohamed Al Hamed, the Chairman of the Department of Health in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and a member of Abu Dhabi Executive Council to name a few. She has exhibited with philanthropic organizations such as The United Nations, and elSOUL, Kyushu.

Lee-Ann Haslam Mixed Media Artist

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

Colorblast I

Lee-Ann Haslam

Mixed media glass panel with wood, Kanazawa gold foil, glass enamel, blown and kiln formed cast glass.

64cm H x 32cm W x 5cm D

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Garden Series Plate

Lee-Ann Haslam

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

Cast glass kiln work with millefiori 10cm in diameter

Bryan McFarlane Professor Emeritus

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT OLIVER MYRIE

Oliver Myrie was born in Jamaica in 1978. He began painting in 1995 as a student at the Old Harbour High School in St. Catherine, Jamaica and then professionally in 2008. Initially focused on realism, Oliver counts his love for nature, the sea and colorful images as his earliest of influences. In high school, Oliver was also greatly impacted by the work of the surrealist aesthetic, Australian-born Jamaican pioneer, Colin Garland. A long-time student of Jamaican art history, Oliver also counts Jamaican masters Karly ‘Jerry’ Craig and John Dunkley among his early influencers. In 2000, Oliver pursued a Diploma in Fine Arts at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, graduating in 2005.

It was during his time at Edna Manley that Oliver left behind realism to explore the world of abstract intuitive art. Oliver was one of two final year students selected to study at the prestigious University of Contemporary Art in Pont-Aven, France in 2004. Oliver desires that his work be an intimate affair – not only viewed from a distance but engaged with. Individuals are invited to touch his paintings, experiencing the movement and texture of the paint on the canvas, feeling the emotion embodied in each piece and interpreting its messages based on their own life experiences.

Oliver has participated in several exhibitions, his most recent being the 2017 Jamaica Biennial Exhibition at the National Gallery of Jamaica. Oliver has also been consistently recognized as one of Jamaica’s outstanding young artists. In 2009 he was one of four short-listed artists in the Super Plus Under 40 Artist of the Year Competition. He was selected as one of thirteen artists to participate in 2010 in the Young Talent exhibition at the National Gallery of Jamaica.

Oliver Myrie Contemporary Painting Artist

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

(Life) Nervously Excited

Bryan McFarlane Professor Emeritus

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Cecil Cooper Scholarship Exhibition | Page 4

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT BRYAN MCFARLANE

Bryan McFarlane Fine Artist Professor Emeritus

The University Of Massachusetts, USA

Bryan McFarlane: Born in Moore Town Portland, Jamaica, studied at The Edna Manley College of Art in Kingston, Jamaica and completed his MFA Degree at Massachusetts College of Arts and Design. Upon graduation from Art School, he taught at The Edna Manley College in Kingston, Jamaica, returning as a frequent external examiner and critic over the last two decades. Since 1997, Bryan McFarlane achieved the level of ‘Tenured professor’ of Painting and Drawing at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. He has led groups of students to study art in Jamaica, France and China. He was previously appointed as a Visiting Professor at the University of The West Indies, the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

McFarlane has exhibited and lectured as visiting artist at numerous universities and museums throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston; The National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston and The Museum of The National Center of African American Artists. McFarlane has received numerous awards, including the prestigious: “Silver Musgrave Medal” in the Arts, with a Citation from The Institute of Jamaica. McFarlane has works in collections nationally and internationally, including Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; the Museum of the National Center of African-American Artists, Boston; The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas; the National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston; the Bank of Jamaica; the NCB collection; the Jamaica Money Market Brokers; The Bank of America; Sunshine International Museum, Beijing; the Ferry International Art Center in Beijing and Shanghai University. McFarlane continues to work in his studios in Jamaica, Boston and Beijing. McFarlane draws inspiration derived from his travels throughout China, East Asia, Turkey, West Africa, South America, Europe and the Caribbean.

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on an -

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Unexploded

What’s Behind a Love Mask

Bryan McFarlane

2002 Oil on Linen 65” x 50”

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

Bryan McFarlane

2010-2015 Oil on Linen 42” x 34”

Bryan McFarlane

Professor Emeritus

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Last Dance, 2003 | Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT SANA ROSE

Sana Rose is a mixed media artist based in the Caribbean Island of Jamaica who creates work in collage and assemblage. She graduated from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) in Jamaica with an Honours Diploma in Painting in 2000 and the Ohio State University in the United States with a Master of Arts Degree in Art Education in 2012. Rose managed the National Visual Arts Programme at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission for a number of years where she hosted and curated numerous art competitions and exhibitions; wrote for a national newspaper and planned and implemented many cultural events and training for artists. Returning to her art practice after more than a decade in the art industry, she continues to create art with a renewed and steady commitment to nurturing her reawakened creative spirit. Her work has been shown in various exhibitions in Jamaica including at the National Gallery of Jamaica and in Trinidad and Tobago. Her work is represented in the EMCVPA and Bank of Jamaica collections as well as private collections in Canada and the United States.

Rupture I

Sana Rose, 2023

Mixed media collage on paper on board (acrylic, paper towel, spray paint, dried coffee grounds)

Sana Rose Mixed Media Artist Acting Head of the Department of Art Education at the EMCVPA.

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

Rupture II

Sana Rose, 2023

Mixed media collage on paper on board (acrylic, paper towel, spray paint, dried coffee grounds)

30” x 22”

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ABOUT PHILLIP THOMAS

Phillip Thomas (b.1980) is a graduate of the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts where he gained both a certificate and diploma in Painting with honours (2003). He currently lives and studies in New York but continues to exhibit in Jamaica. In 2008 he won the Aaron Matalon Award for his outstanding contribution to that year’s Jamaica National Biennial. Phillip Thomas is considered a realist and he paints with an ease that demonstrates his sure draftsmanship and understanding of the human form. Yet there is more to his artistry than just representation. He harnesses the classical approach of the European masters to cloth and critique his contemporary black subjects. The result is portraits that are appealing because of their conventions and familiarity but also repulsive because of their perverse contradictory content. Black people become grotesque, deformed sitters manipulated by time and the artists facility to displace and reposition them in new historical settings.

Phillip Thomas Multi-disciplinary artist

Untitled Phillip Thomas, 2023 Mixed Media on Paper 37.25” x 37.25”

Untitled

Cecil Cooper

Acrylic Painting

26” x 36”

while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete, would fly away.

1992

Professor Emeritus

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

Bryan McFarlane

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Last Dance, 2003 | Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Nature, ever graceful yet pragmatic, determines that the seed must die in order to germinate. So too was Cecil’s transitioning graceful and impactful - a simultaneous passing and ancestral ‘spirit resurrection’. Through his accomplishments, he has left a colossal void, but he has passed on the proverbial baton of his unique artistic force.

Cooper’s contributions continue, as manifested in this auspicious occasion at Olympia Gallery, June through July 2022. He continues, from the beyond, his duty as a culture guru with an expansive definition of what constitutes Jamaican art patronage: taking on anArtists’ role as ‘patron’ through ‘philanthropy’.

He not only accumulated wealth but continues to share its bounty. In his passing, many are simultaneously healed. He has left behind numerous paintings and drawings, which speak to an immense and inexhaustibly fascinating legacy, forever worthy of examination. His lingering presence affords opportunities to young artists without the means to receive a proper education through his financial generosity. Therefore, he has a perpetual, exuberant presence and a spirit that possesses and lives within us all. Through him, many lives have changed and will change for the better - forever.

Cooper did his “Last Dance” (acrylic on canvas, 2003) while we were not watching. He spoke prophetically and quietly and created one of his final masterpieces, a major large-scale work as a final and profound rite of passage... a silky white dove, resting on the shoulder of the protagonist, a mark of selection - noting that the subject would shortly be at final rest, and the bird, its mission complete,

Bryan McFarlane Professor Emeritus

The University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. USA website: https://bryanmcfarlane.net

DOES STUDIO TIME IN BOSTON, USA; KINGSTON, JAMAICA; BEIJING, CHINA

Last Dance, 2003 | Mixed media on canvas |165 x 206 cm

Cecil Cooper Inaugural Scholarship Exhibition | Page 7

Lorna Gordon Naomi Francis Dana Gooden

C ecil Cooper

SCHOLARSHIP EXHIBITION