Thank you to everyone who joined us to say goodbye to The Art of Michael K. Frith: From Pencil to Puppet. On the final day of this landmark exhibition, we had a full audience join us to hear from Michael K. Frith, Lisa Henson, Jennifer Barnhart and Kathryn Mullen.
This exhibition exceeded our past attendance records, with over 17,000 people visiting in the 10 months it was on view. We gave over 100 free school tours and distributed over 1,700 BNG Kids Activity Books.
We are so grateful to Michael K. Frith for opening his never-before-seen private collection of sketches and entrusting BNG to share his life’s work.
The talk included performances from Cleo the Lion (performed by Jennifer Barnhart) and the Monstrosities, a group of puppets created in a 5-week puppet building and puppeteering course led by Kathryn Mullen.
This exhibition would not have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors.
The title sponsor of The Art of Michael K. Frith: From Pencil to Puppetis Masters Limited. Exhibition also sponsored by Markel, Appleby, and the Durhager Family, with additional support from Athene, Chubb, Clarien Bank, Conduit Foundation, Nicole and Arie Haziza, Piran Strange, The Ministry of Education and various anonymous Friends of the Friths.
Each week, the participants spent two hours with Mullen, one hour building their puppet and one hour practicing puppeteering skills.
The participants started with just a piece of fabric and a simple pattern, then each used their creativity to create these beautiful and varied characters!
On Saturday, December 6, the City of Hamilton turned Front Street into a open-air cinema, where families sat under the stars to watch a movie.
The first movie was The Muppet Christmas Carol, shown in celebration of The Art of Michael K. Frith: From Pencil to Puppet.
While waiting for the movie to start, Lorna Hayward, Senior Events Coordinator for the City of Hamilton, put together a Muppet Characters Quiz where attendees competed for a karaoke machine.
Michael K. Frith and his puppeteer-wife, Kathryn Mullen, spoke before the start of the movie about Frith’s involvement with the movie and his exhibition at BNG.
The Bermuda National Gallery hosted an engaging Professional Development Day for the public school arts teachers, organized by Mikaela Joy Kawaley-Lathan, BNG’s Officer of Community Engagement, Programming and Learning and Dr. Shannon Rose-Robinson from the Ministry of Education.
Visual art, music, and dance teachers came to BNG to have a tour of The Art of Michael K. Frith: From Pencil to Puppet. After the tour, they had a discussion with Michael K. Frith and his wife, Kathryn Mullen about the role of collaboration within their careers.
In the afternoon, half the teachers learnt a round from Fraggle Rock, and the other half learnt about different types of puppets from Kathryn and then tried their hand at making some!
The puppets came to life and joined the singers for a wonderful performance that helped show the power and joy of collaboration.
Thank you to all the teachers who joined and helped make the day so memorable. A special thanks to Michael Frith, Kathryn Mullen and Christina Frith for volunteering their time and expertise.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Members’ Opening of Meditations on Form: Jewellery by Melanie Eddy, sponsored by Butterfield with support from the Bermuda Foundation.
It was a truly special evening, marked by overwhelming support for two major milestones: Melanie Eddy’s first solo exhibition and the Gallery’s debut jewellery show. The atmosphere was filled with pride and emotion as we celebrated Melanie’s remarkable achievements right here in Bermuda, the island that has been a constant source of inspiration for her stunning designs.
The exhibition, which is now open to the public, presents 3 of Melanie Eddy’s collections; the faceted collection, the high jewellery collection and the breakers collection.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the talk by London-based multi-media artist Rana Begum. As Charles Zuill wrote in his review of the lecture in the Royal Gazette, “Begum is a highly versatile artist, whose work is wide-ranging and yet identifiable as being uniquely Rana Begum. She is a painter, a printmaker, a sculptor, a creator of installations, a designer of furniture, a film-maker. She is an explorer, an experimenter, a modernist and yet a traditionalist.”
Her talk was fascinating and we were thrilled to welcome her to the gallery, where her work is on display in Simplicity of Form: Unfolding Abstraction through to the end of October. The video of talk, courtesy of CITV, is now available to watch for those who weren’t able to make it in person.
London-based multi-media artist Rana Begum currently has several works on display in Bermuda: No. 861, a series of etchings in Simplicity of Form: Unfolding Abstraction at BNG, and two sculptures which have recently been installed at the Hamilton Princess Hotel – No. 847, a folded grid in Jesmonite, and No. 1029, paint on powder-coated aluminium.
Her work, which explores theinterplay of light on colour, is inspired by the geometric patterns of both the Islamic art and architecture that shaped her early childhood in Bangladesh and those found in British urban spaces. Citing Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, and both Josef and Anni Albers as inspiration, her practice bridges painting, sculpture, architecture and design in a contemplation on the relationship between light, material, form, colour and space.
She was elected to the Royal Academy in 2019 and has exhibited at Frieze Sculpture Park, London (2018) and the National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, DC (2018). A solo show of her work, Reflection on Colour and Form, recently closed at the Cristea Roberts Gallery, London.
Top: Rana Begum photographed by Angus Mill. Above: No. 861 by Rana Begum on display in Simplicity of Form: Unfolding Abstraction. Etchings with chine colle on Somerset and Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 2018. Edition 8/20. Collection of the Green family.
In August, Rana will take part in the Hamilton Princess Artist in Residence (AIR) Programme where she will create a piece of original art for the hotel, inspired by the resort and the islands of Bermuda. On August 17, she will be hosting a talk at the Bermuda National Gallery where she will be discussing her practice and how the island has influenced her work during her stay.
We caught up the artist as she prepares for her Bermuda residency, to discuss the importance of honesty and simplicity in her work, how residencies help push her to a fresh perspective and engage in conversations, and the ways in which she attempts to capture the very essence of a place.
BNG:You have cited the American Minimalists amongst your inspirations. In Simplicity of Form: Unfolding Abstraction, your work No. 861 is hung alongside works by Kenneth Noland and Frank Stella. In what ways have artists such as these influenced your practice?
RB: I’ve been inspired by their approach to geometry, form and colour. There is a purity and honesty in the way material and form is used. I am constantly aspiring to keep this honesty and simplicity in my work, nothing is disguised and as you get closer to the work the process and material is revealed.
No. 1029 by Rana Begum. Paint on powder-coated aluminium. Collection of the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club.
BNG: You often use geometry and repetition as a means of investigating the relationship between light, form and colour. How do these two artistic devices allow for such a wide-ranging exploration?
RB: Repetition and geometry allow me to explore the idea of the infinite, considering how a work can grow in a space. I have always been fascinated by scale and how it can transform a work, pushing me to think about material and the work’s relationship with the body. There is a constant dialogue between the material and its impact on scale – and vice versa.
I have always found the act of repetition calming, reminding me of reciting the Qur’an in the mosque when growing up. The rhythmic experience becomes meditative, allowing me to really focus on the how light, colour and form interact.
No. 847 by Rana Begum. Folded grid in Jesmonite. Collection of the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club.
BNG: Your practice is very much rooted in an investigation of place. You moved to London from Bangladesh when you were eight years old and the influence of these two contrasting cultures, and cities, frames your work. You have also completed residencies in countries as wide ranging as Italy, Lebanon, the Philippines and Thailand. In what ways does place affect your work and how do you capture it?
RB: Residencies have been a fantastic way to break my rhythm and push my work through a fresh perspective. I always have an idea of what I might do on a residency, either looking at drawing, colour or a combination. But, despite this initial intention, I have found myself being directed by the experience of a place.
Residencies force you to be open to things happening in your work and engage in conversations. You are constantly observing and absorbing, your senses are heightened when you are visiting a new place.
When I am taken out of my normal routine and day to day distractions and responsibilities, I become able to re-engage with my surrounding and take in the light, atmosphere, smell and temperature. It all has an effect. During a residency I am trying to capture the impact of this experience, to create something tangible that captures the essence of place.
Rana Begum photographed by Angus Mill.
BNG:Bermuda has a long history of artists – from the American Impressionists onwards – visiting the island to capture the unique quality of light here. What do you hope to gain from your Artist Residency at the Hamilton Princess?
RB: I hope my trip to Bermuda will give me an opportunity to reflect and think about my work. I’m hoping it’s an opportunity to push my work through drawing and painting and feel inspired by the light. Essentially, I want to be inspired by the light and make the most of having a sustained period to focus, reflect and have conversations.
Rana Begum will be hosting a talk at the Bermuda National Gallery on Thursday, August 17. Click here to register. Tickets are $35 for BNG members and $50 for non-members.
To celebrate the close of From Darkness to Light, artist Henry Ward gave a fascinating talk at the gallery last week, in which he discussedhis approach to portraiture, his techniques – which are inspired by the Old Masters – and the influence that Rembrandt has had on the development of his practice.
The artist also discussed his experience painting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Ward is one of the few painters for whom the late monarch sat and his portrait of her, which now hangs in the Savoy in London, is one of only two which she unveiled in person.
We were thrilled to welcome students to the exhibition after two years of restrictions, with East End Primary (pictured below), St David’s Primary and the Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation home school group visiting in recent weeks. The exhibition, which captured key figures in Bermuda’s diverse communities, provided a valuable teaching resource in both portraiture and the use of chiaruscuro.
Join us for an insightful talk by local artist Jill Amos Raine on Thursday, December 9. There will be a drinks reception at 5.30pm, followed by the talk at 6pm.
Jill will be discussing her time in Cape Dorset (Kinngait), Nunavut, in the Arctic territories of Canada. The settlement, which is considered the epicenter of contemporary Inuit art, is the subject of The Shadow Land, currently on display in the Upper Mezzanine Gallery.
The exhibition focuses on stone cut prints from the 1960s, presenting artworks produced by the first generation of full-time Inuit artists based in Cape Dorset. Jill will discuss her time living and teaching English at the settlement with her husband, David Raine, during this time period.
Click here to register. Tickets are $10 for BNG members and $20 for non members.
Spaces are limited. Please note that a government SafeKey will be required for attendance.
Top: Jill Amos Raine (right), with husband David Raine (centre) and an Inuit friend on Baffin Island in the 1960s. Above: The Shadow Land: Cape Dorset Prints from the Bacardi Collection. Photographed by Dion Easton.
Earlier this year Gherdai Hassell held an Artist Talk at Bermuda National Gallery in partnership with the Department of Culture to celebrate the opening of her first solo exhibition, I Am Because You Are.
In the talk, which has since accumulated over 1,500 views on social media, Gherdai eloquently took the audience through her journey from cutting out paper dolls as a child – a forerunner to her Alibi series she realises in hindsight – to pursuing (and relinquishing) a law degree before moving to China, returning to art and realizing that it is her true calling.
