Features
Newsday reporter
The Two Houses of Knolly Greenidge, a 1990 watercolor depiction of a pair of rural dwellings, most likely in the artist’s southwestern Trinidad, is presented in an overall reddish tone, with the houses and tree in bronze and a pink tint to the sky .
It’s a mind-opening look at the more challenging lives of the less well-off in Trinidad and Tobago just over a generation ago – before concrete rather than wood began to be used for even the simplest buildings, says a media release.
In another painting, architectural heritage of a more urban kind is present in Woodford Square, a 1972 work by Allan King that takes one right into the heart of downtown Port of Spain, where, even after 50 years, one can to feel a similar feeling of one of the main attractions of the city. Then, as today, there is a constant flow of people in and out of the square, people hanging out at the famous bandstand, while others prefer to stop on Knox Street, right across from the Port of Spain Town Hall.
The publication said the paintings will share a further link in December, when they will go on display as part of an exhibition headlined by Greenidge and dominated by several of the artist’s smaller works, with paintings by King, Geoffrey Holder and Dermot Louison also included. These works by Knolly Greenidge, including “a rare oil painting”, event organizers said, will all be for sale.
The exhibition will open at the 101 Art Gallery in Newtown on December 3rd and 4th, with a schedule of activities between 12pm and 4pm both days. Viewings can be arranged by contacting Dulce Nieves at Art Gallery 101.
Visitors will be treated to the story of Greenidge, who presented a sermon on art when he was in elementary school, though it wasn’t until he was 23 in 1960, three years after becoming a member of the Southern Art Society. career finally took off, the release said. He learned much from society member Bro Fergus Griffin (Irish) of Presentation College, San Fernando, as well as local artist Isaiah James Boodhoo as he developed his semi-abstract style.
Greenidge’s watercolor and oil paintings focused on Trinidad’s social and cultural heritage, primarily from a rural perspective, while urban scenes also featured in his repertoire. The vitality of many of his human figures, from dancers to panthers, has been admired by collectors in England, Germany, France, Scotland, Canada, the USA and Brazil.
