Wendy Nanan (born 1955) is an artist from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. Much of her work focuses on the multi-racial aspects of Trinidadian society, often featuring images of religious figures and post-colonial symbolism. Nanan has exhibited in Paris, London, Washington DC, Kentucky, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Johannesburg and the Dominican Republic.

Biography

Born in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, Trinidad, she took classes at Manchester Polytechnic, before obtaining her BFA in Painting from Wolverhampton Polytechnic in 1979. She has been exhibiting regularly worldwide since 1985, and is currently based in the town of her birth. She attended

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

matches with her parents in childhood, an experience reflected in some of her work. She works in various media, including painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Nanan's work is included in the National Museum and Art Gallery collection in Port of Spain. Her images are featured in a limited edition first-day cover for

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

's "World of Invention" stamp issue, celebrating the London Cricket Conference 1–3 March 2007, first international workshop of its kind, hosted by the

Institute of Commonwealth Studies The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, founded in 1949, is the sole postgraduate academic institution in the United Kingdom devoted to the study of the Commonwealth. It is also home to the longest-running interdisciplinary and practice-oriente ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In a 2012 exhibition entitled ''Independence'', at Medulla Art Gallery, Port of Spain, she applied her art to interrogate Trinidad and Tobago's 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain: several life-sized multi-ethnic queenly heads layered with postage stamps from former British colonies now forming the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, revealed how the image of England’s queen was projected into all corners of the world, reflected today in lingering colonial mentalities. Wendy Nanan is represented in two art history publications: ''Caribbean Art'' by Veerle Poupeye, and ''Art in the Caribbean'' by Anne Walmsley and Stanley Greaves.Anne Walmsley and Stanley Greaves, ''Art in the Caribbean – an Introduction'', New Beacon Books, 2010. , paperback, 184 pages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanan, Wendy 1955 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago women artists 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago painters Trinidad and Tobago sculptors Trinidad and Tobago printmakers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago painters 20th-century sculptors 21st-century sculptors Trinidad and Tobago women painters Trinidad and Tobago women sculptors Women printmakers Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton People from Port of Spain 20th-century printmakers 20th-century women painters 21st-century women painters