Alvaro Barrington - After Venus Grace Sam, 2024

Publisher: Tate
Year: 2024
Format: Digital pigment print with screen-print overlays on hand-torn Somerset Satin Enhanced 330 gsm paper
Edition: Limited edition of 50, signed and numbered on back
Condition: New / Unframed
Size: 60 x 80 cm

After Venus Grace Sam, 2024, pays homage to carnival festivities and the space that Caribbean communities create through Carnival to freely dance, socialise and celebrate their culture. Growing up between the Caribbean and New York, Barrington experienced the joy of attending carnival and observed the importance of it as a space for people, for women especially, to express themselves. ‘At carnival in the Caribbean, during a wet fete where partygoers are sometimes sprayed with fire hoses, you’d see a girl dancing in her underwear, and you’d know that this space was for her, not for you’ says Barrington, who has revisited the motif of the woman with her back turned, as she splashes in the sea, multiple times in his work. ‘I thought, as an art historical nerd, that I’ve been conditioned in that way – to know that this space was for her – and that it was interesting to see the difference between a Paul Gauguin bather, or a Lisa Brice bather, in terms of how the artists look at women. I wondered if I, as a Caribbean American man, could paint women in a way that made the viewer realise that it’s her space.’

For his Tate limited edition works, Barrington created two new paintings with the intention of them becoming prints. The paintings were digitally printed and Barrington hand-painted the screen-print overlays, working closely with the print-makers throughout the process.