If yuh eh Red, yuh dead!

Hey TJJ’ers, your boy Ray J here, coming at you from the Red - Appropriated art exhibition. Officially opening its doors at 6:30pm, we were greeted by an abundance of red upon arrival. The ambience, a soft afternoon glow with a lush of red radiating from the roses hung from the ceiling.

There were three rooms - the first was a sort of welcoming area, the second with its walls decorated with the artist, Kwynn Simone Johnson’s digital screen prints and an awfully gory (gory to those without the belly) short film, and the third room was her vast collection of embroideries and watercolour paintings. Patrons quickly flowed in, and before long the gallery was near full, but despite the crowded atmosphere the vibe was still a casual family like one.

“If yuh eh Red, yuh dead!” Words that probably still echo through the ears of those who were present at the opening of Kwynn solo exhibition Red - Appropriated, from the thesis ‘The red man, the red woman and the colour red'. Johnson, a full time research officer at the Carnival Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, holds a first class honors Degree in Visual Art, writes the weekly Art review in the Catholic Newspaper, and is completing her Masters Degree in Cultural Studies in 2009 in a Solo Art exhibition with a thesis.

Photos By Peter C.Q & Rayhaan Joseph
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This being her fourth solo exhibition, the story of red speaks reams to us and Kwynn’s exhibition, with its interactive component, excites us and tugs into a deeper, more intense process of definition and discovery. The body of her work was created in studio from May 2008 to February 2009 and is made up of seven interconnected strands: 21 embroidered texts on linen, 48 embroidered images on linen, 24 digital screen prints, 60 watercolour paintings, 3 newspaper collages, a short film entitled “At a theatre near you”, and an installation of 36 red roses. “Red - Appropriated is my creative way, via the visual language”, Kwynn said, “to present a thematically connected exhibition grounded in the universal association of red with blood, and how it is lived and policed.”

After having our fill in Kwynn’s artistic excellence, not to mention the great finger foods, we sought it to be the time for our departure. But it was not until we made our way to the car did we truly realize the universal meaning behind the messages Kwynn conveyed in her art. Red cars, red fences, even the Tatil sign was red (gasp) it was like everything was turning red before our very eye ... lol. I guess it is true when they say, “If yuh eh Red, yuh dead!”

Ray J de red man signing out.