Artist-to-Artist: Simonette Quamina Proposed by Alvaro Barrington

'In Simonette’s work one finds nature and mysticism and play all together. It’s nostalgia for a Caribbean that probably no longer exists.' – Alvaro Barrington

Presented by Praxis at Frieze London

Simonette Quamina’s works are a love letter written in a Caribbean visual language. Composed of diverse collage and printmaking techniques, the artist's large-scale collage prints speak to her intersectionality and multicultural background. Growing up within the borders of Canada, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the US, through her practice she examines themes of migration patterns, displacement and labour within the framework of Afro-Caribbean spirituality and aesthetics. Her distinctive monochromatic dark grey tones simultaneously obscure and reveal intimate narratives, compelling viewers to engage with the work more actively and profoundly.

Barrington writes: 'One of the potentials of art is that it can give us a sense of a time and space. In Quamina’s work one finds an idea of a Caribbean where nature, mysticism and play are all together. A printmaker by education, Quamina uses the repetition of printmaking to create single images. The work is nostalgia for a Caribbean that probably no longer exists. It is a Caribbean that those from the Windrush, that Bob Marley, that my mother, would have known as well as they knew their own bodies.'

Simonette Quamina

b. 1982, Canadian; lives and works in New York and Massachussets

Simonette Quamina was born in Ontario and spent her early childhood between South America, the Caribbean and New York City. Her diverse upbringing is woven into her large-scale drawings, prints and collages. She earned her BA from the City College of New York and an MFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Alvaro Barrington

b. 1983, Venezuelan; lives and works in London and New York

Graduating with a BFA from Hunter College, NY, in 2013, Barrington completed the MFA at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include Oh, Sandy? Sandy, Sandy, Karma, New York, NY, US (2023); Oh Sandy, why did you leave me all alone, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY, US (2023); Mendes Wood, São Paulo, BR (2023); Marz Lovejoy x Alvaro Barrington present: The Rally—Miami, Miami, FL, US (2022); Sea Both Sides, Massimo De Carlo, Milan, IT (2022); Garvey 2: THE REUP, Corvi-Mora, London, UK (2022); THE GREAT TRADE, Blum & Poe, foreigner, and Saint George Projects, Culver City, CA, US (2022); 91–98 jfk–lax border, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, US (2022); La Vie en Rose, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, AT (2022). Barrington’s works are included in the collections of ICA Miami, Miami, FL,US; Fundacion NMAC, Cadiz, ES; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong, CN; Loewe Foundation, Madrid, ES; Rennie Museum, Vancouver, CA; Start Museum, Shanghai, CN; The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK; Tate, London, UK; Towner Art Gallery, Eastborne, UK; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK; and X Museum, Beijing, CN. 

Further Information

Frieze London takes place concurrently with Frieze Masters from 11–15 October in The Regent’s Park, London.

To keep up to date on all the latest news from Frieze, sign up to the newsletter at frieze.com, and follow @friezeofficial on Instagram and Twitter, and Frieze Official on Facebook.

Tickets

Early-bird tickets to the fairs are now sold out. Limited full-price tickets have just been released. Don’t miss out, book yours now.

BUY TICKETS NOW

_{Main Image: Simonette Quamina, The Dream Weaver, 2023, relief print, monoprint and graphite on paper, 1.9 × 2.3 m}