ALPHANSO BLAKE:
The professional artist
HIS PAINTINGS are displayed in art galleries from Kingston to Port of Spain and New York, and Alphanso Blake is now considering expanding his focus beyond the Caribbean and North America.
Successfully sharing his artistic talent with the wider world requires applying skills with which many other professionals would be familiar, Blake says.
His focus is on the continued evolution of the development of his artistic process, but he also carries out the more mundane and vitally essential tasks of maintaining contact with his existing patrons, while reaching out to potential clients and new galleries.
“Artists must be seen and heard,” Blake maintains. “We are living in the age of social media with tools at our disposal which previous generations could only dream about. The WhatsApp messaging system, for example, allows an artist’s work to be seen by hundreds of art lovers at the same time.”
JAMAICAN ART MARKET
The use of social media, combined with the display of his works locally and overseas, means that a significant number of purchases come from abroad.
“It is a myth that there is a significant Jamaican art market,” he says. “I don’t believe that there is a market for Jamaican art, so much as a market for good art,” he affirms.
He pointed out that only a small proportion of the Jamaican population supports local artists, and the number of people who truly appreciate the work of artists is even more limited.
“Some Jamaicans prefer feel-good art, which reminds them of their emotional ties to the country, such as paintings of Flat Bridge or an old country house,” he says. “If artwork does not go beyond sentimental expression, however, then it limits both the artist and the art.”
He pointed out that Picasso was a Spanish artist and Rembrandt was Dutch, but the mastery they achieved can be appreciated universally, which explains why “a Usain Bolt or a Bob Marley are identifiably Jamaican; however, they belong to everyone around the world who recognise their craft”.
“Painter Michale Escoffery and sculptor Gene Pearson are Jamaican artists who have reached a level of accomplishment where their work appeals to people from many different cultures,” he said. “I believe that there are more of us in the visual arts community who can aspire to their level of achievement.”