IOUNT IONS I Drawing

The Caribbean, once cultural outpost of Europe, is experiencing the cosmic vibrations of a new culture. It is as if a new nation is arising. A new people stand within the corridors of human history and proclaim the dawning of a new age. These are the "rainbow children" of Haile Selassie, Jah Rastafari, a people who have thrown off the mental shackles of neo-colonialism and slavery. These people who are no longer influenced by the negative conceptions inherited from slavery, hold out to the world, and their Diasporic African family especially, a vision that is founded upon Marcus Garvey's teachings --total acceptance of self and African-centeredness, teaching that herein lies the redemption of the children of Africa who were led astray in the DARK AGES OF EUROPEAN DOMINATION. Founded upon the cornerstone of the divinity of man and woman, patterned after the divinity of Haile Selassie, God in man - Jah Rastafari, many poets, singers, musicians and artists have been born in this new culture. From out of this cultural landscape comes Ras Jahaziel - the Revelator. Born in Barbados, an island of the eastern Caribbean, Ras Jahaziel, the multimedia artist, speaks to the world through the media of large oil paintings on canvas and on video, telling the history of African people since their encounter with Europeans. It is the story of his grandmother, your grandmother and the sons and daughters who suffered in The Maafa (the African holocaust). His soul-stirring paintings depict such themes as "The Rape of Africa," the Columbus invasion, the Middle Passage, and the horrors of plantation slavery. Not content to be a historian and recorder of the trail and trial of the white cross, he ventures into the future. Moving from evocative paintings such as "The Haitian Revolution," and "Resurrection of the Drum," the artist visionary shares the hope of repatriation and reparation for the scattered Ethiopians in such paintings as "The Return" and "The Harvest." Every painting has a story that is accompanied by his poetry. Born to be an artist, he recalls spending most of his time in junior and secondary school drawing, drawing, drawing with the passion of a one called for a purpose. Never furthering his formal artistic tuition past secondary school where he was guided by the elder and renowned Caribbean artist and sculptor, Karl Broodhagen, he deliberately chose to allow his talent to grow by practice and intuition.