Manchas & Collages: Co-Exhibition with Poli Baum
Poli Baum and Llanor Alleyne at The Embassy of Argentina, Bridgetown, Barbados.
In celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Barbados and Argentina, I have been invited to participate in a special art exhibition hosted by the Embassy of Argentina in Hastings. The exhibition, titled Manchas & Collages, brings together the work of two artists— myself and Argentine visual artist Poli Baum — whose collage-based practices explore the expressive possibilities of form, identity, and visual language across different geographies.
Curated as part of the Embassy’s official program of cultural events for 2018, the show opens with a formal reception attended by His Excellency Gustavo Martínez Pandiani, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to Barbados. Also in attendance is Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports, John King. The exhibition is installed at the Ambassador’s residence and features selected works from each of us that highlight our shared but distinct artistic vocabularies.
Poli Baum is an Argentinian visual artist with a background in photography and design. Her work plays with abstraction, gesture, and experimentation, often building off photographic material that she stains with ink to form new compositions. Her approach, which she describes as “invented photography,” pushes against fixed boundaries between image and intention. The pieces she presents in Manchas & Collages offer a vibrant, intuitive counterpoint to my own works, which center on the figure, particularly Black women, as subjects of interiority and transformation.
For this show, I include a series of collages that continue my exploration of the silhouette as a container for complexity. Works like Selena, which hangs prominently in the main exhibition space, are built from hand-painted paper and mylar and emphasize layered composition, contrast, and negative space. These collages are part of a broader practice in which I revisit the portrait as a shifting, nonliteral reflection of presence. Rather than fix the figure in place, I use material and gesture to invite motion, emergence, and reclamation.
Although Poli and I are working with different materials and visual languages, the pairing is intentional. Both of us are deeply interested in themes of presence, transformation, and the expressive potential of collage. Our work shares a spirit of improvisation and resistance to conventional structure. The contrast between her abstract, painterly gestures and my own figure-driven compositions allows viewers to move between rhythm and resonance, between gesture and form.
One of the most meaningful aspects of this collaboration is the opportunity to connect across borders, through art, at a moment when international cooperation and cultural exchange feel particularly urgent. As artists, Poli and I are speaking to different histories and audiences, but we are also engaged in parallel efforts to create space for alternate ways of seeing and understanding.
The exhibition is well received, and I am grateful for the care and generosity shown by the Embassy and its team. Following the initial run, the exhibition is extended to include additional works by Bajan artist Kraig Yearwood. His contribution brings another layer of depth to the conversation, grounding the show even more firmly in the context of Caribbean creativity. Kraig’s minimal and textured pieces introduce a new visual rhythm that rounds out the exhibition’s final form.
Being invited to participate in this celebration of 50 years of diplomacy between Barbados and Argentina has been an honor. It is always a privilege to share work with new audiences and to take part in meaningful cross-cultural dialogue. Exhibiting alongside Poli Baum, whose work I greatly admire, has made the experience all the more rewarding.
Let me know if you'd like a backend excerpt and SEO description as well.
