Black Brick Road Art Show

Dec 30, 2019 News

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(Plasma Magazine’s recap of the recent exhibition in the US by Guyanese author and artist Harold Bascom and his daughter, Damali Bascom)

by Stephen Wilkins

On a mild, late Autumn evening in a small nondescript shopping center on South Rainbow Road in Decatur, onlookers crammed into the DWS art gallery for a one night only show. The Black Brick Road is an artist collaboration between father and daughter Damali Bascom aka Natural Dali, and Harold Bascom aka Harold Bantu. As we entered the narrow gallery there was hardly any standing room as Harold Bantu conducted a Q&A style artist talk for each of the nearly forty pieces hanging.
The first collection Bantu was commenting on was titled Brownstone Series. “This series of paintings, rendered as if on brick walls, is a statement on life in America’s inner cities”, decried the artist’s statement that hung above the paintings. These ranged from his piece “Love Birds” with two persons entwined to a rendering of a woman with the Empire State Building between her legs.
Bantu: “Is she facing forward?
Audience: “No.”
Bantu: “Why? She’s ashamed. She is ashamed about what she has become in America…Is it worth it for what some people have to do to come to this country? That is a question I will leave you to ponder.” The evening proceeded in this manner, Bantu positing questions and a moderator passing a mic around for attendees to give their two cents.
Bantu himself is a Guyanese painter, novelist, and award winning playwright in his home country of Guyana, South America. From an early age Harold was intrigued by the arts, paying close attention to his father, a craftsman and furniture builder. “Growing up, there was always sibling rivalry around who was better at drawing. I decided, at an early age, that I was going to become an artist”, Harold told Plasma via email.
Harold shuffled the engaged crowd further into the gallery to discuss his next series Bewildered Birds. Much of Bantu’s work has to do with the relationship man has with the natural world. While the Brownstone Series took place in America’s inner cities, Bewildered Birds is a look  at mankind’s effect on nature through the lens of a wide eyed bird. “In the very first piece….I tried to show the forest and the grass morphing….and nature wondering what the ‘f’ is going on”, Bantu told the crowd. Harold is a vivacious speaker continuously prompting the audience to engage with the pieces; repeatedly saying,”That is the beauty, you see something that I didn’t see,” to his audience.

Bantu’s daughter Damali Bascom, aka Natural Dali, was also born in Guyana, but migrated  to Hackensack, New Jersey in 1996 when Dali was seven years old. Like any kid in a fish out of water situation Damali wanted to fit in, which included attempting to rid herself of her Guyanese accent. Reflecting on those early years she told Plasma,”As I have gotten older, I have learned to appreciate that being Guyanese is a huge part of what makes me unique.” Natural Dali’s collaboration with her father is quite unique. When they work together they create textured pieces that literally come off the canvas. In their collaborative series titled The Natural Hair Journey, “My dad painted the face, I bought the hair from the beauty supply store, and I printed photography like images of flowers, and I cut them out to create the background.” This collage and multi-medium approach blends well with Harold’s beautiful painting style, creating something beyond what either would have achieved solely.
Damali, at the age of twenty-six, decided to dig into her roots both literally and metaphorically. “At the time, I felt I needed to consume myself with something. I needed a hobby, and I chose my hair. In the start of 2016 I promised I would take better care of my hair. I stopped using heat appliances like flat irons and curling irons.” As she embarked on this journey of rediscovery, her art started to mimic life, as it often does. “The Natural Hair Journey art collection is an expression that our hair is not a nuisance, or ugly, or needs to be hidden, that Black women’s natural hair is beautiful.”
Guyana, like many countries in South America is quickly becoming modernized. And while this has plenty of upsides, one significant downside is the loss of local culture and folk traditions.

“The truth is, the Guyana Gothic Series was a one-off that I did as a Guyanese artist in order to record, for posterity, the quickly dying folk culture of my country due to the very strong ‘modernizing’ influences in my country that are smothering the local interest in our folk tales and folk culture overall.”
The six piece collection of mythological characters from Guyanese folklore was done in black and white ruling pen and indian ink on bristol board. The pieces evoke both fear and beauty. “My series is an effort to ensure that vestiges of Guyanese folklore do not die.”
While Bantu hasn’t received the critical praise here in the US that he has in his home country, he is certainly an artist to keep an eye on. His work is multi-faceted and undertaken with much care and precision. The collaboration with Natural Dali brings a balance to Harold’s paintings. The female gaze brings the paintings to life just like the collage brings the painting off the canvas.
After Harold and Dali were done with the walkabout through the gallery, the Dj turned up the tunes and various artists took the stage as attendees mingled about the gallery admiring the pieces and discussing the merits amongst themselves. The Black Brick Road art show was a journey. Harold Bantu and Natural Dali led their audience from the Brownstones of America’s inner cities, to Guyana, and back again.

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