Frank Walter: artist, gardener, radical at the Garden Museum in London
The Flora Journal posted: " Until the 25th of February, the Garden Museum in London, UK presents a major exhibition of the landscape and nature paintings of Antiguan artist Frank Walter (1962-2009), exploring his genius as a gardener and early conservationist on the islands of Anti" The Flora JournalRead on blog or reader
Until the 25th of February, the Garden Museum in London, UK presents a major exhibition of the landscape and nature paintings of Antiguan artist Frank Walter (1962-2009), exploring his genius as a gardener and early conservationist on the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, and Dominica, as well as one of the most distinctive figures in modern Caribbean art.
Artist, environmentalist, intellectual, and philosopher, Frank Walter led a pioneering and unique life: he was the first Black man to manage a sugar plantation in Antigua and ran an (unsuccessful) campaign to become Prime Minister there in 1969 on a visionary environmental and social justice platform.
Frank Walter exhibiiton at the Garden Museum in London
Fields and Workers (undated) credit Frank Walter Family, photo Kenneth M. Milton Fine Arts and David Zwirner
With over 100 paintings and sculptures that have never been exhibited before, and a newly-commissioned immersive set by award-winning designer Jeremy Herbert, this exhibition will transport visitors to the warm climate of Walter's 'castle on a hill' studio in coastal Antigua.
Walter's vast work reveals an intellectual curiosity explored in a wide array of mediums and subject matters, including painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture; exploring landscapes and memory, flora and fauna, Antiguan society, scientific concepts, and more. In total, he created over 5,000 paintings, 1,000 drawings, 600 sculptures, 2,000 photographs, 468 hours of recordings, and a 50,000-page archive.
Coconut Palm in Hurricane Sky (1975), credit Frank Walter Family, photo Kenneth M. Milton Fine Arts and David Zwirner
Untitled (Palm Tree Frond) (undated) credit Frank Walter Family, photo Kenneth M. Milton Fine Arts and David Zwirner
As a direct descendant of both enslaved persons and plantation owners, Walter became obsessed with his own genealogy, believing himself to be related to King Charles II through the White slave owners in his ancestry, self-titling himself the 7th Prince of the West Indies, Lord of Follies and the Ding-a-Ding Nook. He travelled Europe for eight years in the 1950's, where he fell in love with British landscapes which he repeatedly returned to in his paintings.
Walter's experiences of living in both 1950's Great Britain and for later decades in the Antiguan and Dominican countryside led to a series of landscapes exploring environmentalism, Caribbean and Black identity, and the complexity of nature. This immersive exhibition will be the first museum show dedicated to a gardener of Caribbean heritage and will transport visitors to Walter's "castle on a hill" in Antigua, utilizing the original set design and a newly commissioned soundscape.
In 1993 he designed and built a home, art studio, and gardens in a remote location on Bailey's Hill in Antigua. Walter created an environment embracing the natural world, with staggering views of the surrounding countryside and ocean. Finding solace in the wild hills of his ancestral lands, Walter mostly secluded himself, spending the remainder of his days gardening, writing, and painting.
Guest curation by Professor Barbara Paca, Ph.D., O.B.E. in collaboration with the Garden Museum and David Zwirner Gallery.
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