Island Thresholds Contemporary Art from the Carribean (review)

I SL AN D T H RESH O L D S C O N T E M P O R A R Y A R T F R O M T H E C A R R I B E A N T he Pe abody Essex Mu se u m SALEM, M A FEBRUARY 1 9 - JUNE 5, 2 0 0 5 Founded in 1799, t he Peabody Essex Museum, America's ol dest cont i nuousl y operat ing museum, has recent ly undergone a sea change. Nest led in hist oric Sal em, Massachuset t s, t he Museum i s an i mpor t ant reposit ory of over 2.4 million obj ect s t hat reflect a hist ory of gl obal t rade and t he sea. Ei ght years ago t he Museum embarked on a 150 million dollar const r uct i on and r enovat i on campai gn. New gal l eries were buil t and a host of educat ion and public pr ogr ams were devel oped t o enhance t he vi si t or experience and updat e t he Museum's i mage. In spr i ng 2005, t he Peabody Essex Museum present ed Island Thresholds: Cont emporary Art from t he Caribbean. Organized by Sam Scot t , Assi st ant Curat or of Marit ime art , t he exhi bi t i on present ed works by f our est abl i shed male Caribbean art ist s: David Boxer (Jamai ca), Tony Capellan (Domi ni can Republ i c), Kcho ( Cuba) , and Marc Lat amie (Mar t i ni que/ USA). Scot t st at ed t hat his curat orial vi si on f or t he exhi bi t i on devel oped dur i ng t he r ei nst al l at i on of t he museum's marit ime gal l eries. This process sparked an int erest in expl or i ng t he role of t he sea as a cul t ural f orce in shapi ng i dent i t i es. Fur t her mor e, Scot t bel i eved or gani zi ng a cont empor ar y art exhi bi t i on w oul d br i ng new life and engagement t o t he Museum's hi st or i cal marit ime art if act s. Upon ent ering t he museum, vi si t or s proceed t hr ough a t hr ee-st or y gl ass at rium w hi ch resembl es t he prow of a shi p. The t emporary exhi bi t i ons are housed in a new w i ng w hi ch i s f l anked on each side by per manent col l ect ion gal l eries. Island Thresholds opened wi t h a reading t abl e and a shor t video of t he f our art ist s speaki ng about t heir work. This f irst gallery al so present ed mul t ipl e works by David Boxer and an i mpr essi ve i nst al l at i on of wat ercol ors ent it l ed Transat lant ic ( 1996- 2001) by Marc Lat amie. In Boxer's moment s in t he i nt r oduct or y vi deo, he al i gns hi s pract ice wi t h Francis Bacon. Boxer adds t hat his work i s al so i nf l uenced by a range of Af rican cul t ures i ncl udi ng Ashant i , Dogon, Fang, and Egypt i an, as well as maj or 20t h cent ury art ist s such as Cornell, De Kooni ng, Rot hko, and Pi casso. Boxer 's mul t i -medi a piece Queen Vict oria Set We Free ( 1996- 2003) grappl es wi t h r econci l i ng t hese diverse i nf l uences. A hi st or i cal Fang reliquary f igure, whi ch woul d cust omar...