Indigo Arts Gallery celebrates the artistic genius and the indomitable spirit of the Haitian people, with a continually changing collection of
Haitian paintings. We fell in love with the art and people of Haiti on our first visit twenty years ago. While our focus is on artists actively working today, we also have a stock of paintings from the 60's through the 90's that we have collected in Haiti over the last eighteen years or acquired from estates and collections. A sampling of the artists we normally carry includes: Theard Aladin, Gerald Bruny, Gelin Buteau, Gerard Fortuné, Alexandre Gregoire, Jorelus Joseph, Dieuseul Paul, Gerard Paul, Manno Paul, Denis Smith, Louisiane St. Fleurant, Pierre-Joseph Valcin, Julien Valery, Jacques Valmidor and Wagler Vital. We also offer
sculpture fashioned from recycled steel oil drums by such artists as Gabriel Bien-Aimé, Serge Jolimeau, Janvier Louis-Juste and Michel Ramil Remy.
Doubtless the most spectacular Haitian art form is the sequin-covered Drapo Vodou or "Voodoo Flag". Vodou banners derive directly from the practice of the Vodou religion, a syncretism of traditional African religions brought to Haiti by slaves, with the Catholicism of their former masters. The banners are traditionally the work of practicing vodou priests and their followers. They are displayed in the vodou sanctuaries and are carried at the commencement of a ceremony. Each flag depicts the vévé symbol or image of the loa to which it is devoted. The flags are made of shiny silk fabrics to which have been sewn a brilliant mosaic of sequins and beads. A full-size banner typically contains 18,000 to 20,000 sequins and may take ten days to complete.
Among the more traditional practitioners of the art we show at Indigo Arts are Sylva Joseph, Clotaire Bazile, and Yves Telemac. We have also exhibited the work of the late Antoine Oleyant, among the first artists to expand the bounds of the tradition and thus achieve recognition for his flags as sequin paintings in their own right. His work and life are featured in Tina Girouard's 1994 book, Sequin Artists of Haiti as well as the landmark exhibition, Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. Other important sequin artists at Indigo Arts include Maxon Scylla, Mogirus, George Valris and the late Joseph Oldof Pierre. The most exciting new artists to emerge are Myrlande Constant and the painter-turned-flag-artist Wagler Vital.
We are also pleased to offer an extraordinary collection of vintage vodou flags and vodou bottles from the collection of the late Virgil Young. A large part of his collection is in the Fowler Museum of Cultural History at UCLA, and many pieces were included in the ground-breaking exhibition (and accompanying book), The Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. Click here for the Virgil Young Collection
Our friend Nancy Josephson has just published the definitive book on vodou flags, Spirits in Sequins: Vodou Flags of Haiti. It is superbly illustrated and includes by far the most up-to-date biographies of all the major (and many lesser-known) sequin artists.
Spirits in Sequins: Vodou Flags of Haiti
Nancy Josephson
Schiffer Books
Atglen, PA, 2007
176 pages
$39.95
Indigo Arts Gallery celebrated the 200th anniversary of Haitian independence with the exhibition Masters of Haitian Art. For more information about the show click here.
