Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago- Richard Ackoon

Artist Statement and Biography
As a boy, I drew cartoons and imagined land and seascapes. As a youth in high school, I was drawn towards popular culture and fashion illustration; recreating designs and photographs found on record album covers and within the pages of entertainment and fashion magazines. I was completely drawn to the abundance of imagery presented within the pages of magazines and I still relish the act of editing those pages with a pair of scissors. To tear apart magazines, to crop and edit the images that appeal to me still informs my art today. Some of those cropped images are currently pasted on the pages of a series of 18” x 11” journals, as free-floating elements or composed, potential compositions for paintings.

My uncle, Patrick Chu Foon, was an accomplished painter and sculptor in Trinidad and Tobago. As a child and adolescent, I was exposed to the world of art through his amazing talent and inspiration. He has been a major influence both spiritually and artistically. Trinidad Carnival has greatly influenced my love of art, creativity and color.

Through my paintings I aspire to create a new language; a window through which the viewer can receive new visual and mental joy and stimulation. I wish to absorb the viewer. To make them feel, enjoy and explore.

The primary subjects of my paintings have been figurative and an exploration of popular, iconographic imagery. My most recent body of paintings is more of an abstract nature with subtle references and clues to representational subject matter. The source material for these paintings are collages comprised of inch squared magazine cut-outs placed next to each other in a grid-like pattern; reminiscent of a patchwork with an appearance of pixels. With these works I feel at ease to experiment with single planes of color, expressive brushwork and my fondness for the act of mark making.

1984            Queen’s Royal College, Port of Spain, Trinidad, Graduate
1987            International Fine Arts College, Miami, FL, AA
1999            School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, BFA
2001            Spoke the Hub Brooklyn, NY, Solo Exhibition
2002            GAB @ OHM New York, NY, Group Exhibition
2003            Leslie-Lohman Gallery, New York, NY, Group Exhibition
2003            Fatty’s Astoria, NY, Solo Exhibition
2004            Adjustments, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
2005            Fillmore, Brooklyn, NY, Solo Exhibition
2007            A-Forest Gallery, New York, NY, Group Exhibition
2007            Cafe Sutra, Brooklyn, NY, Solo Exhibition
2008            Schillerpalais Gallery, Berlin, Germany, Group Exhibition
2008            A-Forest Gallery, New York, NY Group Exhibition

Section#1
Section #1
Mixed Media 12” x 12” 2008

Automatic
Automatic
Mixed Media 12” x 12” 2008

Dad at 19
Oil on canvas 40” x 30” 2007

Wanderlust
Oil on canvas 24” x 36” 2007

Landscape
Oil on canvas 53” x 71” 1998

Self Portrait
Oil on canvas 40” x 30” 1994