Work of four artists being featured at Youlou Art Centre

THE YOULOU ART Centre in keeping with its mission to focus on showcasing the work of local artists and artisans of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), is inviting the public to view the art work of four local artists.

An opening reception for the artists is planned for Saturday, April 28 from five to eight pm. The featured artists are: Kingsley Roberts, Anthony McDowall, Marc Erdrich and Sean Roache, whose work will be on showcase from April 21 to June, 30, 2018.

Photographer Kingsley Roberts who is known for photographing everyday life in SVG, currently has his photograph of the iconic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, in Kingstown, on the cover of the 2018 Telephone directory. He is a prize winning photographer who has been practicing his craft for over 30 years.

Kingsley is originally from Sandy Bay and is of Carib descent. He recalled he became interested in photography in the 60’s when an American visited his village with a camera. Kingsley owns Photographic Elegance and also operates from his residence at Dorsetshire Hill.

Anthony Mc Dowall has always had a passion for art making. He studied art while a student at the Emanuel High School in Mesopotamia. He has had various work experiences. He has been a farmer, a policeman, ran a mini mart and bar, and currently he works for an insurance company. He restarted his painting career when his daughter entered secondary school. He realized he could be a role model for her.

McDowall is inspired by nature. He sees his art as an avenue to make the statement, “Beauty is in everything we see.” His paintings are about the natural beauty of St. Vincent. He wants the public to cherish their surroundings and detests the destruction of the environment through littering and other means of controllable pollution.

Reluctant to call himself a photographer, Marc Erdrich prefers to call himself an imagist. He started his career as a journalist which entailed writing as well as taking pictures and spanned many decades. During his career as a journalist, he harnessed his talents in the literary arts and has tried his hand at play writing, wrote short stories and essays. While living in SVG, he has been assembling all these various skills into something resembling the creative process.

The result has been a number of theatre projects under the guise of a production company called Theatre Arts. He has had several photo exhibitions and a number of writing and graphic design projects. Marc has been living in St Vincent for the past 20 years. He said, “I prefer to ply my trade quietly and without fanfare. I am at an age when it gives me great pleasure to see young Vincentian artists creating new work. There is a lot of talent here begging to be seen and heard and if by sharing my work it encourages others, then my “art” has succeeded.”

Abstract painter Sean Roache is a policeman, but his heart is in the world of art making. All his life he has been surrounded by a creative mother, who has encouraged and nurtured his creative side. Roache said he grew up watching his mother painting abstract designs on fabric which were then made into clothing. He witnessed her approach to art making as something special. He could see this style of painting allowed the painter power to add, and display a range of emotions and ideas. Sean is in total agreement with the statement: “Abstract Art expresses underlying thoughts in an indirect way, in a code that is unique to the sender and the listener”. He acknowledges the fact that abstraction in art takes courage and the reward is a pouring out of one’s thoughts and experiences – a freeing of the soul. As a youth Roache attended the “Growing Young SVG Artists” program, organized by the Youlou Arts Foundation.

The Youlou Art Centre launched just over a year is owned and operated by Youlou Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on developing and preserving the arts in SVG.