“Life in North Caribbean”, by Edouard Duval-Carrié on Display at the Lyle O. Reitzel Gallery

The Lyle O. Reitzel Gallery presents “Life in North Caribbean,” a one-man show of Haitian artist and Miami resident, Edouard Duval Carrié. As an artist, Mr. Duval Carrié cannot escape Haitian reality, the motivating source of his discourse. His work reflects the wealth of that world whose history and nature generate an emotional society, the essence of which he captures in his sensitive paintings that allude to magical and religious cults, nature and humanity.

Duval Carrié´s work has been shown collectively and individually in the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Duval Carrié´s work has been shown collectively and individually in the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. It can also be found in the permanent collections of such prestigious international museums as the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, Mexico and the Musee de Pantheon National in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Amable López Meléndez, Curator of the Museum of Modern Art and President of the AICA, said Duval Carrié´s, “Life in North Caribbean” allows us to appreciate the effectiveness and symbolic versatility which differs from his recent work. Paintings such as “The Anguished Man,” “Blue Spirit,” “Coral Head Mutant,” “Dead Radiant Islanders,” “Claro de Luna II,” “Beasts of the Swamp,” “Salve” and “Radiant Islanders” (2007), resist the delicate areas of shadow. Cartography of navy blue. Vegetable, magnetic and progressive polychrome. Intangible horoscope of spring and emerald.

“Fleeting silhouettes tatooed with stars and white-washed seashells. Golden filament from the soul, time and material. Promises of saltpeter. Abysmal and warm spaces, surfaces inhabited by proscribed gods of the rocks and dewdrops. Sirens and inflammable chimeras. Petals of sand, spores, mandalas and choral beings. Cloudy sea minerals, the fear of nostalgia for the air of the islands,” described López Meléndez.

“In these paintings, Duval-Carrié demonstrates his mastery with skill and precision. He uses different techniques, materials, expressive resources including: oil, acrylic, fabric, synthetic resins, wood and a surprising diversity of elements. The framework comes about in an enriching manner, passing over a fundamental procedure in traditional Haitian art. The decorative motives are key to comprehending the image potential of the surface, the plasticity and the resignation of the objective implications,” concluded Mr. López Meléndez.

The Lyle O. Reitzel Gallery at Torre Piantini

Hours: 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
The exhibition will be opened until January 30, 2009.