[A sad “thank you” to Christian Campbell for bringing this news to our attention.] Travis Cartwright-Carroll (Nassau Guardian) recently reported that renowned Bahamian artist John Beadle, known for his artistic versatility and kindness, died on April 16, 2024.
Beadle was a multidisciplinary artist and worked in various mediums, including painting, sculpting and as a printmaker. The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) said Beadle’s work centered on themes of identity, migration, labor, and place.
He was born on April 2, 1964 to a Jamaican father and Bahamian mother.
His high school art teacher, Sandra Illingworth, saw his potential and nurtured his creative ideas. When it was time for college in the 1980s, Illingworth approached artist Stan Burnside, who was at The College of The Bahamas, and asked that he further guide Beadle. Burnside, a well-known Bahamian artist, said Beadle was a genius, and his death is a tremendous loss for the country. “I really think he is one of the brightest lights of Bahamian culture that we’ve ever had,” said Burnside, who has known and worked with Beadle for more than 30 years. He was someone that I considered to be almost one of my children. He and I spent a lot of years together, first as my student and then in later years as a full-fledged colleague of mine. It’s a loss for the cultural community. It’s a loss for the Bahamian community.” [. . .]
“He was a credentialed brother who was very gifted but also had a lot of academic training behind,” Burnside said. “For a while he worked with my brother at Doongalik Studios where they collaborated on quite a few outstanding projects. He was also the youngest member of a group of artists that I started called B-CAUSE (Bahamian Creative Artists United for Serious Expression). The other artists were Brent Malone, Maxwell Taylor, my brother Jackson, John Beadle, Antonius Roberts and myself.”
Beadle’s work has been exhibited in The Bahamas, the United States, Germany, France, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and New Zealand.
Beadle later got involved in Junkanoo in a big way. Burnside said one year it so happened that he, Jackson Burnside and Beadle ended up working in the same shack. “… We would talk about taking the process of collaboration that you have in Junkanoo and putting that into the painting studio. We did that and started a body of collaborative work called jamming paintings,” he said.
[. . .] Amanda Coulson, a former executive director of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, said Beadle was a man who “quietly and humbly has done so much for so many while being an absolute genius.”
In a Facebook post, the National Art Gallery said Beadle’s work is a testament to the impact of art. “Beadle embraced natural materials in his work, showcasing a level of skill and craftsmanship reflective of his formal training and his work with Junkanoo groups,” NAGB said.
“The NAGB extends its deepest condolences to the Beadle family, his loved ones, and the art community for this tremendous loss. Beadle’s legacy will live on through his works in our collection, a testament to the power and enduring impact of art.”
In an interview posted by Coulson, Beadle reflected on his weariness to call himself an artist. “I struggle with calling myself an artist,” he said. “I think when people call themselves an artist it’s kind of an egocentric kind of thing. I have a friend … who believes that to be called an artist is basically to be called an angel or something above everyone else. I don’t agree with that. Everyone has a creative side of them. Some people, because of their training or because of their whatever, decide to call themselves an artist, and I struggle with the notion of giving myself that name as a way to separate me from some other people who have less skill.”
For full article, see https://www.thenassauguardian.com/news/john-beadle-dies-at-60/article_c1b51056-fc3f-11ee-ba1e-c3f8f65636fb.html
[A sad “thank you” to Christian Campbell for bringing this news to our attention.] Travis Cartwright-Carroll (Nassau Guardian) recently reported that renowned Bahamian artist John Beadle, known for his artistic versatility and kindness, died on April 16, 2024. Beadle was a multidisciplinary artist and worked in various mediums, including painting, sculpting and as a printmaker.
