Repose: Alanis Forde + Akilah Watts

Alanis Forde (b. 1996, Barbados) is a contemporary Barbadian artist who specializes in expressionistic realism portraiture. She works mainly with oil paint and collage. Alanis attended the Barbados community College and attained her Bachelor’s Degree in .Studio art She’s been in a number of group exhibitions at both local, regional and international galleries/Museums. Forde has just completed her second residency at the Chautauqua Institution Visual Arts Program in New York and featured in publishing’s such as Sugarcane Magazine and local news sources. In the years she’s been creating, Alanis’ concepts are based primarily on the black female identity in an idealized, exotic, .paradisiacal Caribbean space

Akilah Watts (b. 1996, Barbados) received her BFA in 2017 and went on to participate in Prizm Art Fair of that same year. Watts works with a number of media to create multiple bodies of work and has exhibited locally (Barbados) and internationally(New York, San Francisco, Miami, etc.) in several exhibitions. Watts hosted her first solo show in March 2019 and she was recently part of an exhibition at the World Trade Centre in New York. She has also been featured online in exhibitions, auctions, articles, and shops such as Artsy, Les iles and Good Black Art. Watts has been featured in a few local publications such as the Easy magazine and the M People magazine and internationally online on Artsy, ArtLeadHER and Artnet. Watts is currently working on multiple bodies of work. One focuses on her relationship with natural hair and her Caribbean roots, while another body of work entitled “Moments From My Island Home” is her way of bridging the gap between the realistic and the idealistic view of her island Barbados.

1969 Gallery presents, in collaboration with John Wolf, Repose a two-person exhibition featuring the works of Alanis Forde and Akilah Watts, both artists-in-residence at Mana Contemporary. Our collective experience of repose has transformed throughout history. During a time when perspectives on labor and stillness are in deep flux, here we receive a glimpse into the cultural projection of repose as these two Barbadian artists reflect their lived experience of growing up in an “island paradise”.

Alanis Forde states:
“I am interested in escapism and what it means to live in a paradise space that is seen as a vacation or escape for others. What then is my escape? My paradise? That ‘third’ escape is what I am searching for. By creating my own paradisiacal landscapes a new concept emerges. Through my continued research culminating in the body of work I have created, I steer the conversation between feeling comfortable in my homeland and wanting to escape. There is a continuous dialogue between the figures and the paradise it’s submerged within. The use of dotted textures and vibrant patterns allows the viewer’s eye to be in constant motion, transporting them into paradisiacal spaces. The recurring figures are called proxies characterised by their blue dotted skin and red lips. These proxies navigate these landscapes documenting the essence of what it means to be both trapped and free of paradise.”

For inquiries, please contact:
Amanda Barker (amanda@1969gallery.com)