Jamaican art shines like the winter sun

Kenneth J. Cooper

Winter is the time of year when many New Englanders head south to the Caribbean. L’Essence Art Gallery in West Roxbury is doing the opposite — bringing a bit of Jamaica to Boston. The “Jamaica, Jamaica!” exhibit that opened on Tuesday features the work of three artists: Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper from Boston, Dipanwita Donde from New Delhi, India, and Ekua Holmes from Boston. The inspiration for the show was a painting expedition the trio made to Jamaica in 2004. They visited Dassardo-Cooper’s family home in Portmore, a suburb of Kingston, and also Treasure Beach, a quiet, artsy resort and fishing village on Jamaica’s South Coast.

The paintings and collages depict the people of Jamaica leading their lives, not necessarily in the postcard settings that is often all tourists see of the subtropical country. Dassardo-Cooper takes the point of view of a Jamaican expatriate who makes regular trips back to her homeland, while Donde is an Indian who was on her first visit to Jamaica, and Holmes is an African American who was seeing the island country for the second time.

The exhibit draws its name from an exclamation in a popular reggae tune, “Welcome to Jamrock,” by Damian Marley, son of the late Bob Marley.

Dassardo-Cooper graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and has been exhibiting her oil paintings for 30 years in the United States, Jamaica and India. In 1997, she represented the United States in India’s Triennale, an international exhibit that has in the past featured the works of American artists Sam Gilliam and Louise Nevelson. Currently, she lives in Dorchester and maintains studios in suburban Rockland and Jamaica.

Donde was born in Calcutta and graduated from the College of Art in Delhi. She is primarily a watercolorist who has begun to dabble in oils. The government of India has purchased four of her watercolor paintings and placed the images on postage stamps. She lives in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi.

Holmes is a Roxbury native and Mass Art graduate who has participated in Boston’s art scene in various capacities for three decades. As an independent curator and owner of Renaissance Art & Design Gallery, she has worked to increase exposure for women artists of color throughout Massachusetts. In recent years, she has concentrated on her own work, principally collages, but also paintings. She maintains a studio in the Piano Factory and is currently splits her time between Boston and Baltimore, where she is pursuing a masters of fine art at the Maryland Institute of Art.

L’Essence Art Gallery was established a year ago by art lover and former accountant Carline Chery. The gallery has an international focus and has exhibited with work from various countries, including China, Germany, India, Haiti, Cuba, and Brazil.

All three artists will attend the opening reception at L’Essence Art Gallery, 1723 Centre Street, on Saturday, Jan. 28, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibit runs through Feb. 26, with gallery hours 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. For more information about the “Jamaica, Jamaica!” exhibit, contact Chery at L’Essence Art Gallery, 617-325-0140.