Che Lovelace (born 1969) is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

artist who lives and works in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

, Trinidad."Lovelace, Che"
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. He first came to prominence as a champion surfer and was appointed president of Trinidad's Surfing Association in 2012."Surfing enriching living"
''

Trinidad & Tobago Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

'', 15 May 2012. He has contributed to many art,

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

and entertainment projects, including the weekly Studiofilmclub, founded in 2003 with

Peter Doig Peter Doig ( ; born 17 April 1959) is a Scottish painter. One of the most renowned living figurative painters, he has settled in Trinidad since 2002. In 2007, his painting ''White Canoe'' sold at Sotheby's for $11.3 million, then an auction rec ...

. Lovelace is currently a lecturer at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

Creative Arts Campus. He is the son of novelist

Earl Lovelace Earl Wilbert Lovelace (born 13 July 1935) is a Trinidadian novelist, journalist, playwright, and short story writer. He is particularly recognized for his descriptive, dramatic fiction on Trinidadian culture: "Using Trinidadian dialect patterns a ...

Biography

Che Lovelace was born in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, Trinidad, and grew up in the east coast village of Matura."Recent Paintings By Che Lovelace"
The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago. He has said: "My 'passport' name is Cheikh Sedar Lovelace. Apparently, in 1969, the Anglican Church would not allow me to be christened Che. My parents made my first name Cheikh after the African historian-philosopher,

Cheikh Anta Diop Cheikh Anta Diop (29 December 1923 – 7 February 1986) was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. Diop's work is considered foundational to the the ...

. I believe Sedar is after the Senegalese poet

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...

. Why they set me up to live up to the standard of such great men, I couldn't tell you." Lovelace began surfing in his late teens and achieved prominence through winning national titles in the sport. He was educated at

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College ( St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the secular college is selective and noted for it ...

,Melissa Doughty
"Che Lovelace's journey in art"
''

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday ''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. ''Newsday'' is the newest of the three daily papers after the ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' and the ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'' respectively. The newspaper was fo ...

'', 13 August 2018. and went on to pursue his interest in art and to train at L'Ecole Régionale des Beaux-Arts de la Martinique in

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...

. Working as an artist since he graduated in 1993, Lovelace has experimented with various styles and materials, exploring in his subject matter

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

, Carnival and dancing figures. In 1998, he was awarded a residency at the

Gasworks Gallery Gasworks is a contemporary art organisation based near The Oval cricket ground in Kennington, South East London, which comprises a gallery and 13 artist studios as well offering residencies, international fellow A fellow is a concept who ...

, London, in a collaboration with the Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva),

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, and the Gasworks Studios. Having been a founder and director of CLAY J'Ouvert, a traditional carnival outfit based in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Lovelace has gone on to develop with other

J'ouvert J'ouvert ( ) or Jour ouvert is a traditional festival known as "break day" or the unofficial start of Carnival, which takes place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday. The festival, with origins in Trinidad, traditionally begins at 2 a.m. and conti ...

lovers the "Friends For The Road J'Ouvert" project, honouring the ritual "Mud Mas" experience and featuring traditional masquerade characters. In 2003, together with

, Lovelace co-founded the alternative cinema space Studiofilmclub. Lovelace also lectures at the

Creative Arts Campus. In 2017, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' noted: "Poised on the border between

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

, Lovelace doesn't really belong to any school; part of the beauty of the show lies in watching the artist establish his own rich vocabulary and letting the work stand on its own. He's not afraid of pleasure and knows how much the soul craves color—a refuge during these dark days." Reviewing Lovelace's first exhibition in France in 2017, ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'' said that his use of landscape and bright colour recalled that of

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetism, Synthetist style that were d ...

and

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

.Margaux d'Adhémar
"Visite virtuelle de l'exposition Che Lovelace"
''

'', 1 July 2017. In a 2018 interview, Lovelace said: "I've seen the landscape in a variety of ways–as a surfer, as a country man growing up in Matura, as an artist in the city, as a participator in cultural events. So I always want my work to reflect that."

Selected solo exhibitions

* 2013: ''Lovers'', Y Art Gallery, Woodbrook, Port of Spain * 2016: ''8 Paintings'', Softbox Studio, St Clair, Trinidad * 2017: Galerie Éric Hussenot, Paris * 2017: Half Gallery, New York * 2018: Recent painting, LOFTT Gallery, Port of Spain (20 July–10 August) * 2019: ''a PLACE, a PERSON'', LOFTT Gallery, Port of Spain (15 November–29 November) * 2021: ''From the Edge of the Rock'', Various Small Fires (VSF), Los Angeles (6 March–17 April)

Work in collections

In 2021, his painting "Nyabinghi Drummers" was acquired by the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...

References

External links

"Sport Insight - Che Lovelace"
Video interview with Astil Renn,

CNC3 CNC3 Television (CNC3) is a television station privately owned by Guardian Media Limited serving Trinidad and Tobago. It broadcasts over-the-air on channels 12 and 14 and is seen throughout the FLOW cable system on channel 3 (DVS) or 103 (AVS) ...

, 25 May 2016. * Stephanie Eckardt
"In the Studio with Che Lovelace, the Painter Putting Trinidad on the Art-World Map"
''W'' magazine, 15 March 2021.
"Che Lovelace"
(interview), ''Super!'' Retrieved 26 August 2021.
"A Conversation with Che Lovelace"
''Cerebral Women'' Episode 71, 23 June 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovelace, Che 1969 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago artists Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad 21st-century male artists Trinidad and Tobago surfers People from San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago