One of two paintings entered in the Jamaica Biennial 2014 by Schliefer, “Jamaican Theatre” comments forcefully on children’s exposure to adult sexual activity which seems to be everywhere – never mind the attempts of the conservative to “shield” children from such exposure by denying them proper sex education.
The view from above, featuring Schliefer’s two entries as invited artist in the 2017 Biennial: Busta Backbone, 84″x105″, acrylic on cotton; Influx, 58″x66″, acrylic on cotton, both 2017.
Schliefer’s work has been a constant in the National Gallery of Jamaica’s Annual and Biennial exhibitions, and in 2019 also the new Summer Exhibition. A selection of his entries is presented here. More on the 2017 entries at https://nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/jamaica-biennial-2017-invited-artists-stafford-schliefer/. Many of the pieces are vivid commentaries on the state of Jamaican society.
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- Nomad Warrior-Tribute to Marcus Garvey. 49″x33″. Mixed Media on Linen. Artist’s collection. Exhibited in the Biennial National Exhibition 2006. Traveling widely, Marcus Garvey, National Hero of Jamaica, spread his philosophy of racial equality when it was an unpopular and revolutionary theme, thus making an outstanding contribution to the welfare of black people of the world.
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- Posse Tooled for Flag. 39″x52″. Acrylic on linen. Artist’s collection. Exhibited in the Biennial National Exhibition 2008. Like the Kingston Pietà, this work addresses the particular social problem of violence in our society, here depicting the destructive minority. The tools of aggression – everyday utensils such as machetes and gardening implements – give the impression of make-shift rioting and domestically improvised violence. The national flag is viciously attacked, symbolizing the damage to our nationhood.
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- The kite builders. Acrylic on canvas, 54″x54″, exhibited in the 2012 Biennial Exhibition. (Not available.) The image of building kites in the colours of the Jamaican flag pays tribute to young people investing positive energy in their country.
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- Sonatina from Pumpkin Vendor. 54″x54″. Oil on cotton. Collection the National Gallery of Jamaica. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 1989. Schliefer’s signature painting – in his own words: “the sonatina, the pumpkin, the vendor … combined to make the poetic personal vision, derived from the Jamaican market scene, come together in abstracted phantasy.”
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- Cudjoe, Lionheart. Pastel and charcoal on paper. 28x22cm. Private collection. Exhibited, alongside White Lady’s Honey with Rising Tide, in the Annual National Exhibition 2000. Eyes ablaze Cudjoe, rebel leader among slaves. The composition, reminiscent of scaffolding, depicts muscular strengths and ruggedness, but also conjures up the image of the Trojan horse which hides an army in its belly.
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- Poet of Patriotism. 22″x30″. Mixed Medium Collage. Private collection. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 1984. This piece deals with the spiritual individual who has been victimized by cruel circumstances and social injustice; battered and bruised, the poet nevertheless proudly wears a breast plate of the national colours.
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- Hummingbird Crucible. Oil on linen, 48″x40″, 1995. Private Collection. The Doctorbird as symbolic representation of Jamaican society is a recurring theme in Schliefer’s work. Here, the Doctorbird is depicted in agony, crucified on a thorny bush reminiscent of the crown of thorns. The companion piece to this painting in the 1995 Annual Exhibition, “Risen”, depicts the Doctorbird precariously hovering above the danger of the thorns.
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- Clipped Doctor Bird. 43″x52″. Mixed media on linen. Artist’s collection. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 1998, alongside ‘Under the Bellevue Tree’. The Doctor Bird, a national symbol, is shown with its wings clipped, unable to rise – the artist’s symbolic treatment of Jamaican society.
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- White Lady’s Honey with Rising Tide. 48″x33″. Mixed media on linen. Private collection. Exhibited, alongside ‘Cudjoe, Lionheart’, in the Annual National Exhibition 2000. The pervasive, destructive reality of international drug trading and consumption motivated this work.
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- Wind and Light, Mavis Bank. 24″x43″. Acrylic on cotton, framed. 2018. Private collection. Exhibited at the inaugural Summer Show, held June-October 2019, at the National Gallery of Jamaica.
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- Hellshire. Oil on cotton. 54″x54″. Collection Pan American Art Projects, Miami, USA. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 1990. The elements which make up Hellshire Beach: not only sea, sand and blue sky, but also fishermen’s boats and board shacks.
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- For History Book Cover. 46″x60″. Mixed Media on linen. Artist’s collection. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 2001. This painting pertains to the harshness of canefield labour of the plantation era and the cruelty experienced by the enslaved.
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- Kingston Pietà. 46″x60″. Acrylic on linen. Artist’s collection. Exhibited in the Biennial National Exhibition 2008. The nurturing and protective care of our women is extended symbolically to the fallen gun man. The depiction is not religious so much as sociological. The intent is to refer in general terms not only to the violence in Jamaican society, but also to the empathetic support demonstrated by the Jamaican woman for her man, and the destruction of our youth by the violence around them.
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- Under the Bellevue Tree. 40″x48″. Oil on linen. Private collection. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 1998. The tree branches create the image of the folds and creases of the human brain. The main activity of the work takes place underneath this tree-top / brain, an assemblage of tragicomic experiences in the society. Bellevue is Jamaica’s mental institution – one might say Jamaica is a mental institution.
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- Carnival Night, acrylic mixed media collage on cotton, 54″x54″, 2019. Artist’s collection. Exhibited in the National Gallery of Jamaica’s first Summer Exhibition 2019. This work represents the artist’s experience encompassing Jamaican and Brazilian carnivals.
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- Walking free. Acrylic on cotton, 48″x29″, exhibited in the 2012 Biennial Exhibition. Artist’s collection. In a year that Jamaicans were stunned to learn of the group rape of five women, the youngest only 15 years old, by two men, Schliefer provides this poignant comment on the reality of sexual violence: its perpetrators are rarely caught.
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- Man in Flag. 40″x50″. Oil on cotton. Exhibited in the Annual National Exhibition 1987. The ambiguous image of a man trying either to free himself from the flag wrapped around him, or to tear it apart, symbolizes both the struggle of Jamaican society with its national identity, and its self-destructive tendencies.
Stafford Schliefer, Jamaican artist 