African art at gallery inspires local artists

CORNWALL BRIDGE — A collection of original African art and African-inspired work by local artists seems to be a hit at the Insiders/Outsiders Gallery.

Whether it is the striking paintings in bold colors or the intricately carved antique sculptures, the items themselves are proving popular. The knowledge that the funds raised from the show will go to Africa to help children orphaned by AIDS is surely another draw.

Additional news will come later this month: Gallery owner Kelly Gingras will head to the United Nations for a “hand-off†ceremony. There, the Kenyan ambassador to the United States, Peter N.R.O. Ogego, high commissioner for the Republic of Kenya, will accept the totems on behalf of his country

The chip-carved wooden totems, stolen from graves and sold to unwitting tourists, have ended up in private collections and museums around the world.

 Nine totems came to the Cornwall gallery as part of collections of African art in the estates of producers and screenwriters Lewis M. Allen and Jay Presson Allen.

A collection of art from the Congo came to the gallery from Allie Clayton. She and her late husband, John, traveled the world shooting documentaries for publications such as National Geographic.

Their son, Stewart Clayton  of North Canaan, has exhibited at the gallery before, and recalled the paintings his parents brought home from Africa 44 years ago.

“We were shooting a historical documentary on a mission for the Presbyterian church in the Republic of Congo in 1963,†Allie Clayton told The Journal.

“The paintings were given to us in hopes we could sell them in the United States and send back the money. I’m a little embarrassed that we had them for so long. We did send them to a friend who owned an art gallery in Cleveland, but nothing ever came of it. Then life got in the way. Our house burned down. John had a heart attack. We just put them away and didn’t know what to do with them.â€

The 17 paintings are unframed. Most are on sack cloth, the only canvas available to the artists. They depict in bold colors everyday life in the Congo. Proceeds from their sale will be sent through Africare.

The show runs through June 24. Gallery hours and more information are available at insidersart.com.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less