Stanford Watson
"I am painter who doesn't have any style classification but has been called an Abstract Expressionist, an Avante Garde, Expressionist, a nationalist etc. I can be consulted on Jamaican art matters, community arts activities and writing grants for art projects."
Stanford Watson
Biography
Stanford Watson was born in Lucea, Hanover in 1959 as one of eight children. He enjoyed his time growing up in the country, engaging in activities such as swimming in the rivers or the sea, catching crabs and fish, and going to Sunday school, although he outgrew the latter as he expanded his education through reading many books. He attended Ruseas High School and came to Kingston in 1979 to attend the Jamaica School of Art (now Edna Manley College) where he studied painting, which is still his primary medium of visual expression today. As a young man during the socio-political upheavals of the 1970s, Watson became fascinated with ideas of cultural and social revolution, wishing to see the appearance of, and to be involved in, radical movements to challenge the status quo. He soon associated with a group of contemporary artists, which included Omari Ra, Khalfani Ra and Eric Cadien, who shared similar Black Nationalist views and pursued varying modes of expressionism in their works.
Stanford Watson has been an artist almost all his life. A graduate of the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts (Jamaica) in 1983, has since in the High School system in Jamaica and simultaneously at the Edna Manley College. After being a fellow with Apexart in New York (www.apexart.org), Mr. Watson was a guest lecturer at the Plymouth State University for four (4) months. All the above are achievements linked closely to his work as a practicing, involved artist in Painting, which represent his family as well as his country. Previously enrolled at the Maryland Institute College of Art (2008-2009), he formalized his work as a community artist building on the language and activities that best describe and define the work being done in the field of community arts. Mr. Watson is also associated with the MultiCare Foundation, being the Visual Arts Coordinator.
Teaching
Stanford Watson first came to the attention of the Plymouth State community in 2001 when his work was included in the Jamaican art exhibition In the Fullness of Time, curated by Director of Exhibitions, Catherine Amidon . When Amidon learned that Watson would be spending time in New York as a visiting artist at APEXART, she arranged for him to spend the spring teaching in the PSU Art Department.
Watson says he enjoys the small class size of Drawing VI because he is able to give individual attention to each student.
As a teacher, Watson says he has a unique approach to education, which he credits to his cultural heritage and personal experiences. Watson hopes to illuminate the importance of concept, context and content in students’ work. “Students need to develop their own visual language to engage viewers in meaningful dialogue,” he notes.
In his own work, Watson addresses critical social issues pertaining to contemporary events, empowered to convey significant messages. He uses constructs of style such as color, texture and line to elucidate these meanings. For example, Watson painted Dissected Dog (1999) during his pilgrimage to Kenya, but it actually draws on an earlier personal experience in Jamaica. Police searched Watson while a stray dog looked on, barking incessantly. After finding nothing incriminating on Watson, one of the officers turned and shot the dog. Watson felt that the negative social conditions he encountered in Kenya paralleled the experiences of his own people in Jamaica. In this painting, the dog becomes a metaphor, not just for Jamaicans and Kenyans, but all people who are defenseless and oppressed.
In addition to working with PSU art students, Watson is teaching Caribbean Identities, an upper division course. Here he seeks to engage students in a new appreciation and understanding of other cultures, and to assist students in overcoming assumptions regarding the nature of the developing world. As an educator and an artist, Watson believes that “it is important to provide students with opportunities to discover other worlds.” For many of the 25 students in the class this is their first such in-depth exposure to another culture, and he praises them for their hunger to better understand people beyond themselves and their immediate surroundings.
“Stanford’s role on campus is to bring a deeper understanding of Caribbean culture and people, and their contribution to American realities, to PSU and the community. His interactions will help us all to better understand our multicultural world, and appreciate the value of peaceful unity in diversity.”
Bill Haust, chair of the art department.
Stanford Watson
Biography
Stanford Watson was born in Lucea, Hanover in 1959 as one of eight children. He enjoyed his time growing up in the country, engaging in activities such as swimming in the rivers or the sea, catching crabs and fish, and going to Sunday school, although he outgrew the latter as he expanded his education through reading many books. He attended Ruseas High School and came to Kingston in 1979 to attend the Jamaica School of Art (now Edna Manley College) where he studied painting, which is still his primary medium of visual expression today. As a young man during the socio-political upheavals of the 1970s, Watson became fascinated with ideas of cultural and social revolution, wishing to see the appearance of, and to be involved in, radical movements to challenge the status quo. He soon associated with a group of contemporary artists, which included Omari Ra, Khalfani Ra and Eric Cadien, who shared similar Black Nationalist views and pursued varying modes of expressionism in their works.
Stanford Watson has been an artist almost all his life. A graduate of the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts (Jamaica) in 1983, has since in the High School system in Jamaica and simultaneously at the Edna Manley College. After being a fellow with Apexart in New York (www.apexart.org), Mr. Watson was a guest lecturer at the Plymouth State University for four (4) months. All the above are achievements linked closely to his work as a practicing, involved artist in Painting, which represent his family as well as his country. Previously enrolled at the Maryland Institute College of Art (2008-2009), he formalized his work as a community artist building on the language and activities that best describe and define the work being done in the field of community arts. Mr. Watson is also associated with the MultiCare Foundation, being the Visual Arts Coordinator.
Teaching
Stanford Watson first came to the attention of the Plymouth State community in 2001 when his work was included in the Jamaican art exhibition In the Fullness of Time, curated by Director of Exhibitions, Catherine Amidon . When Amidon learned that Watson would be spending time in New York as a visiting artist at APEXART, she arranged for him to spend the spring teaching in the PSU Art Department.
Watson says he enjoys the small class size of Drawing VI because he is able to give individual attention to each student.
As a teacher, Watson says he has a unique approach to education, which he credits to his cultural heritage and personal experiences. Watson hopes to illuminate the importance of concept, context and content in students’ work. “Students need to develop their own visual language to engage viewers in meaningful dialogue,” he notes.
In his own work, Watson addresses critical social issues pertaining to contemporary events, empowered to convey significant messages. He uses constructs of style such as color, texture and line to elucidate these meanings. For example, Watson painted Dissected Dog (1999) during his pilgrimage to Kenya, but it actually draws on an earlier personal experience in Jamaica. Police searched Watson while a stray dog looked on, barking incessantly. After finding nothing incriminating on Watson, one of the officers turned and shot the dog. Watson felt that the negative social conditions he encountered in Kenya paralleled the experiences of his own people in Jamaica. In this painting, the dog becomes a metaphor, not just for Jamaicans and Kenyans, but all people who are defenseless and oppressed.
In addition to working with PSU art students, Watson is teaching Caribbean Identities, an upper division course. Here he seeks to engage students in a new appreciation and understanding of other cultures, and to assist students in overcoming assumptions regarding the nature of the developing world. As an educator and an artist, Watson believes that “it is important to provide students with opportunities to discover other worlds.” For many of the 25 students in the class this is their first such in-depth exposure to another culture, and he praises them for their hunger to better understand people beyond themselves and their immediate surroundings.
“Stanford’s role on campus is to bring a deeper understanding of Caribbean culture and people, and their contribution to American realities, to PSU and the community. His interactions will help us all to better understand our multicultural world, and appreciate the value of peaceful unity in diversity.”
Bill Haust, chair of the art department.
