Capturing Bermuda
The Bermuda National Gallery’s permanent collection celebrates our island’s unique cultural heritage. After careful consideration, BNG acquired a number of new artworks this year, beginning with the purchase, announced earlier this year, of artworks by Jayde Gibbons and Gherdai Hassell.
In addition to these, the gallery has been gifted a small selection of works by former Bermuda Biennial artist Molly Godet (Bermudian, 1949-2017). Camden (In Distress) was bequeathed by the late Nea Willits (along with several artworks of note by local and international artists), whilst The Edge of Civilization and Elycot were donated by Molly’s children.
The artist, known for her striking watercolours and graphic sense of composition, told BNG in 2008: “I paint about Bermuda. Not the pretty pink cottage, but the pink cottage which shows its soul, be it peeling or crooked. Not the beautiful pink sand beaches, but the pink beaches that sport cut-foot rocks, grabbing undertow and washed-up reminders of that other world out there. There is a stubborn willfulness about Bermuda, which no armies of landscape gardeners can delete. That is the Bermuda I strive to capture”.
As part of the permanent collection, these artworks are an important cultural resource and will be used for exhibition and education purposes.
The Edge of Civilization by Molly Godet is currently on display in The Bermuda Biennial: A Retrospective, which runs through to May.