Haitian artists Philippe Dodard, Claudia Apaid, and Jean-Jacques Stephen “Jan Jak” Alexis will be honored on September 16 at the D. A. A. | 2022 Caribbean Fine Art Exhibit and Awards event at Island SPACE Caribbean Museum. A two-month fine art show featuring a collection of their pieces will be unveiled at this multidimensional celebration of visual arts and fashion.
The three Haitian artists will be honored as Haitian social and culture organization Le P’ti Club celebrates its 19th anniversary.
In 2003, Jimmy Joseph Moise founded Le P’ti Club Inc, which has since grown into a nonprofit organization focused on the arts, entertainment, and culture of Haiti and the Caribbean. Through social media, television, radio, and live event broadcasts, the organization serves Haitian and Caribbean communities.
“As an art enthusiast and community organizer, I, with the aid of my team, connect local elected officials with artists to create impactful conversations about the value of art in our world,” indicates Moise. “I have also hosted and produced as a production manager many concerts and events around SoFlo and in Haiti.”
Dodard, Apaid, and Alexis, continue Moise, will be recognized for advancing Haitian arts in South Florida.
Dodard’s internationally acclaimed work includes paintings, graphic art, sculptures, iron works and fine jewelry design, has been displayed in Europe, Africa and the Americas, and inspired couture fashion designer Donna Karan’s spring collection in 2012.
“My work, declared Dodard, builds on the socio-historical experience of the African Diaspora and Indigenous people of Americas. I am interested in crevasses of history and how they allow slippages, contours, detours, appropriations and contestations. I try to articulate the dynamic semantic of visual expressions without falling into sterile essentialism. I explore the human condition through the sensitive filter of my art, rooted in the Haitian traditions and everyday life.”
The second artist to be honored is Jean-Jacques Stephen Alexis. An accomplished painter, curator, graphic designer, Alexis is the CEO of the Jacques Stephen Alexis Foundation. He’s the son of deceased writer Jacques Stephen Alexis whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year.
“As an artist working in South Florida, says Alexis, both as a visual Artist and a curator, it is always a positive feeling when your work is recognized. Now it is even more gratifying when it comes from a cultural organization that for the past 19 years has been instrumental in providing an avenue for artists to show their work.”
Finally, Claudia Apaid is an accomplished visual artist and the president of Sow a Seed Foundation. She’s an artist with multiple creativity abilities working complex patterns with great accuracy in the rainbow of the different colorful beads.
“I am honored and proud to represent my country of Haiti in such a positive light, to help preserve and share its culture and the arts as a whole. I hope to remind people of the beauty within and around, the magic of nature and to spread healing through my creative endeavors.”
People can expect a fine art exhibit of these 3 artists’ works exposed for their appreciation or acquisition. In addition, the SPACE Caribbean Museum has an important Caribbean artifacts exhibit of different Caribbean countries such as The Bahamas. Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago and much more.
According to Jimmy Moise, the founder of Le P’ti Club, guests will enjoy a red carpet, live entertainment and high fashion. Will be at this event attendees such as keynote speaker Consul General of Haiti in Miami Stephane Gilles and special guest speaker Mayor Wayne Messam, City of Miramar, as well as former Miss Haiti winners, officials, dignitaries and other VIPs.
The fine art exhibit, on show from Thursday, September 15 through Sunday, November 13, is a collaboration between Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, Le P’ti Club and Consul General Stephane Gilles, and is curated by JanJakII and Island SPACE consulting curator Anna Visnitskaya.
Jonel Juste
jonelblog 