Chantal Bethel’s work represents The Bahamas as well as her birthplace in Haiti and her childhood home in Belgium. Her art is complex and multilayered, like the artist herself. Bethel’s work reflects her story of discovery, healing, love, hope, and transformation.
The Bahamas Pavillion
Expo 2020, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
October 8th, 2021 — March 31, 2022
Artist Chantal Bethel showcased her pieces Agonistes I and Agonistes II at The Bahamas Pavillion in Dubai.
Having experienced three hurricanes that hit The Bahamas, Bethel was inspired to create a series of works entitled Agonistes —a stark portrayal of the emotional experience of surviving hurricanes—including killer storm Dorian.
“The title, Agonistes is often found as an epithet following a person’s name meaning “struggler” or “combatant”. It is the title of the poem by Milton, portraying Samson’s life, and is the Greek form of the word agony. It seemed to perfectly encapsulate the experience of the people and alludes to their strength and religious belief. Chantal’s evocative use of weathered wood on which the figures are painted is a blatant comment on the physical destruction by the storms and serves as a reminder of how displaced people were in the aftermath.”
— by Susan Moir Mackay in an excerpt from her essay Agonistes, written in 2005 at beginning of Chantal’s art series.
The Current Art Gallery · BahaMar Resort
Nassau, The Bahamas · Spring 2022
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