Paint Like the Swallow Sings Calypso
12 November 2022 – 19 February 2023, 11am – 5pm
Kettle’s Yard was pleased to present Paint Like the Swallow Sings Calypso, a major new exhibition curated in dialogue with artists Paul Dash (b. 1946, Barbados), Errol Lloyd (b. 1943, Jamaica) and John Lyons (b. 1933, Trinidad), three important first-generation diaspora Caribbean painters that were working in the UK during the same period that the Kettle’s Yard House and collection was still being established.
Alongside a selection of their own works, the artists brought together the collections of Kettle’s Yard and The Fitzwilliam Museum for the first time, assembling paintings and works on paper that reflect the rich history, themes and forms of Carnival, from street parades with music and dancing, to folklore, flora and fauna.
28 artists whose work span across five centuries reflected elements from Carnival’s rituals and celebrations, including Jean-Michel Moreau, Albrecht Dürer, Helen Frankenthaler, Avinash Chandra, David Bomberg, Graham Sutherland and Barbara Hepworth.
Gallery
Photos by Jo Underhill
Reviews
This is a show rich in knowledge as well as images, but perhaps most fascinating in its juxtapositions of continents and centuries…
…This is both foreground and background to the work of three contemporary Caribbean artists: the venerable Paul Dash, Errol Lloyd and John Lyons. Their images of carnival are paired with old art throughout to startling effect.
THE OBSERVER
FEATURING
David Bomberg ~ Brueghel (Pieter, the younger) ~ Jacques Callot ~ Giulio Carpioni ~ Avinash Chandra ~ Charles Conder ~ William Congdon ~ Paul Dash ~ Francisco Goya ~ Albrecht Dürer ~ Helen Frankenthaler ~ Henri Gaudier-Brzeska ~ Stanley William Hayter ~ Barbara Hepworth ~ David Jones ~ Nat Leeb ~ Errol Lloyd ~ John Lyons ~ Momper, the younger ~ Jean-Michel Moreau ~ Fritz Möser ~ Ben Nicholson ~ William Orpen ~ John Phillip ~ Pablo Picasso ~ Ceri Richards ~ Graham Sutherland ~ Agostino Veneziano
Artist Biographies
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Paul Dash
Read their bio -
John Lyons
Read their bio -
Errol Lloyd
Read their bio
Art To Go: Carnival Masks with John Lyons
We are grateful for the support of the following:
Dr Carol Atack & Alex van Someren
David Cleevely CBE & Rosalind Cleevely
John & Jennifer Crompton
Emma Davis
Kristen & William Kennish
Nicki Marrian
The Porthmeor Fund
And all those who wish to remain anonymous.