Cosmo Whyte is one of the artists who presents work in the Jamaica Biennial 2014. Until March 15 2015.
White Head Boy.
About:
Cosmo Whyte was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica in 1982. He attended Bennington College in Vermont where he received his Bachelor in Fine Arts. He later spent a year at the Maryland Institute College of Art where he received a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate. For the past three years he has been living and working in Atlanta.
Nkisi.
For the past five years my work has explored memory, both individual and communal, nostalgia, and ancestry. I have been looking at how we internalize and process death through rituals specific to Jamaica and also from a personal point of view. In my photography series I am playing with memory and ancestry through the use of ties. These are all used ties, both inherited from my deceased father and found. Ties, iconic symbols of masculinity, function as heirlooms, providing a link to their former owner. In the work they act as vehicles traveling the landscape of memory and identity.
Inertia.
For the Super Plus Artist of the year exhibition, I plan on creating a body of work, using my existing artist language, with Jonkanoo as my central theme and inspiration. In Ah come back home: Perspectives on Carnival by Ian Smar and Kimani S. K. Nehusi, they trace the roots of carnival in the West Indies, debunking common misconceptions and present Jonkanoo as a celebration of ancestry and group catharsis. I shall use this thesis as the building block for my project.
Shotta.
As I am interested in the ways that we ascribe meaning, memory and importance to objects, particularly heirlooms, I have incorporated non-traditional mediums in my art making. For me an heirloom can become a divining rod; a keepsake, a time capsule. In this body of work I am using ties, both inherited and found to create a cast of masqueraders. These second-hand ties, iconic symbols of masculinity, act as vehicles traveling the landscape of memory and identity, providing a link to their former owners.
