KINGSTON.- Five previously publicly unseen works by Jamaica’s first and finest intuitive artist, John Dunkley (1891-1947), were revealed at the opening of John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night at the National Gallery of Jamaica.

“It is quite a coup for the National Gallery to have secured these Dunkley works for the exhibition and we’re very grateful to the collectors for sharing them,” says Dr Jonathan Greenland, acting executive director of the National Gallery. One work, Deliverance, was believed to be lost. Created by Dunkley in response to the announcement of World War II, it “channels serenity (and a) seeming connection to a higher power, perhaps a plea for peace, or deliverance, in the face of the onslaught of war.” Its owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted the Gallery after seeing the show in Miami and generously offered it to our local exhibition. Two other small sculptures Wooden Shoe and Woman Sitting which form part of the Ameen Canaan Collection adds two other rarely seen sculptural works to the show.

Though a selection of Dunkley’s work is on permanent display at the NGJ, his oeuvre spans little more than a decade and only 50 paintings and a small number of sculptures by Dunkley exist in the world. John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night, organised by Perez Art Museum (PAMM), debuted in Miami in May 2017 before coming to Jamaica for its current three month run. Aside from his inclusion in the 1939 World’s Fair in San Francisco and the NGJ/Smithsonian travelling exhibition of 1983 Dunkley’s work was relatively unknown in the United States until PAMM’s light shone on Dunkley as a beacon of modern and contemporary art from the Caribbean. The exhibition gives local audiences the rare opportunity to see this collection of forty-seven (47) works together for the first time since the NGJ Retrospective of his work in 1976.

With an earthy palette of muted greens and browns, Dunkley’s detailed imagery evokes a verdant site of possibility. Road to Church/ Girl Seated on Wall is the final work in Dunkley’s “vertical paths” series and is laden with metaphorical content. Though the straight and narrow path of virtue and order is before the girl in picture, ending at the church, she appears distracted by the spider and the crab in the foreground of the painting which imply dangerous distractions.

Speaking at the opening of the show, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange said: “The ‘Intuitives,’ as we call them, are a deeply loved part of the Jamaican art world: self-taught, often religiously-inspired creative spirits who speak their very own often beautiful language. Their work has long been coveted by collectors, here and abroad, but more importantly they create very accessible works of art that speak to the soul of the nation: colourful, vibrant, sometimes spiritual, usually highly original. They are loved by all echelons of society, uptown and downtown, for good reason.”

Particularly striking is an untitled and unfinished painting which is likely the last of a series of ‘homestead’ paintings which are often read as aspirational, depicting Dunkley’s dreams of financial abundance and domestic bliss. “I believe this was to have been a detailed presentation of Cassie’s dream house, one that her husband could realize only as an artist,” wrote the late Dr David Boxer in his last essay which brings together over 40 years of research into Dunkley’s life and work. “Little in the history of Western art prepares us for Dunkley,” wrote Boxer. “There is a hypnotic rhythmic intensity in Dunkley’s paintings that is alien to English and American masters.”
John Dunkley (b. 1891, Savanna-la-Mar — d. 1947, Kingston) is considered one of Jamaica’s first and finest 'Intuitive' or self-taught artists and the title of the show is a reference to his work’s idiosyncratic mood and palette: detailed, haunting imageries of landscapes, with psychologically and psychosexually suggestive underpinnings. The exhibition presents not only what Dunkley has been for Jamaica and the region, but also what he could become for the world.

The show ends in Kingston on July 29th, and will tour to American Folk Art Museum in New York City.