The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Chief Curator, Mr Charles Campbell.
Charles Campbell is a Jamaican-born multidisciplinary artist, writer and curator, who has been based in Canada, England and Jamaica. He holds an MA in fine art from Goldsmiths College University of London and a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal. Campbell is a passionate and outspoken advocate of Jamaican and Caribbean contemporary art and has experience mounting exhibitions and running arts education programs for non‐profits in Canada and England. He has also been attached to the visual arts programme of the MultiCare Foundation, a local non-profit for inner-city development.
Campbell has worked as an arts writer and editor for the Gleaner and Jamaica Herald and is a regular contributor to ARC Magazine, a Caribbean arts journal. His most recent publication is a review of the 2012 National Biennial, which appeared in Jamaica Journal 34/3. As an artist he has represented Jamaica and Canada in events such as Infinite Islands: Contemporary Caribbean Art, at the Brooklyn Museum in 2007; the 2009 Havana Biennial; and Wrestling with the Image: Caribbean Interventions, held at the Art Museum of the Americas in 2011.
As Chief Curator, Campbell will focus on developing the National Gallery’s exhibitions programme. This will include a special exhibition to commemorate the National Gallery’s 40th anniversary, the expansion of the Biennial exhibition, and the establishment of a specially designated project space to exhibit smaller artists’ projects. Two of Campbell’s priorities will be to deepen the National Gallery’s connections to the Caribbean region and its Diaspora and to increase local engagement. “It’s an exciting moment for Caribbean art as artists throughout the region are discovering new commonalities and striding confidently into global arts arenas. As the English-speaking Caribbean’s oldest and largest National Gallery, we have a key role to play in developing and strengthening these networks,” says Campbell.
The National Gallery’s Executive Director, Dr Veerle Poupeye, commented that “Charles Campbell is a well-respected, thoughtful and principled critical voice in the Caribbean art world, with a sound grasp of the region’s art history and the critical issues involved. He is versed in current critical and curatorial practice and fully understands the demands and opportunities of the cultural moment, both of which are essential to being successful in a position such as the National Gallery’s Chief Curator. I look forward to working with him to move the National Gallery’s curatorial programmes into exciting new directions“.
Charles Campbell will take up office on January 13, 2014.
