Out & Bad

This exhibition explores an area of popular culture, specifically examining the identity of a powerful demographic in the island context, young black men. Ebony G. Patterson's artwork is very much a reflection on the ways in which young black men shape their identities within the Jamaican dancehall culture, and in this reflection she posits the question: How do these young men craft their masculinity?


Esta muestra explora un área de la cultura popular, especificamente el examen de la identidad de un grupo demográfico de  en el contexto de la isla, los jóvenes negros. Las bbras de arte Ebony G. Patterson reflexionan sobre las formas en que los jóvenes negros dan forma a su identidad dentro de la cultura del dancehall jamaicano, y en esta reflexión se plantea la pregunta: ¿Cómo estos jóvenes elaborar su masculinidad?



In an island culture where young black men are on the cover of the newspapers for rounds of violence, here the artist repositions the young black male as one who is actively re-creating themselves in a manner that challenges the stereotypical notion of what it is to be young and black in an island culture. Here, in this artwork, power is accessed not with gangs and guns, but through creative, individual expression.

 

Jamaican dancehall culture is a space for liberal, free expression. In this space, dominated by thumping music and aggressive lyrics, the male artists are also creative in their fashion and personal expression through poses, posturing, and symbols.

In Bermuda, young people, boys and girls/ men and women, are also exploring their creative identities in relation to fashion and music, and are also very much aware of and sensitive to popular trends and ideas. Ebony G. Patterson's artwork will speak to this group, and provide a forum for dialogue around these same issues within our own community.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1981, Ebony G. Patterson graduated from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in 2004, where she received an Honors Diploma in Painting, and from Sam Fox College of Art and Design at the Washington University in St. Louis in 2006 , with  a Masters in Fine Arts in Printmaking and Drawing. She is an Assistant Professor in Painting and Drawing at the University of Kentucky, Lexington KY. She lives and works in Kingston, Jamaica and Lexington, KY.

Patterson has participated in several group exhibitions in Jamaica and abroad since 2001.

 
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