By Odette Flemming

Walking into a gallery that is filled with the work of Robert Reid can best be described as soothing. His artwork captures the surrealism of the human form. His use of watercolour and pastels add a haze to his renderings that give them a dreamlike quality. Yet when viewing his portraits, the blurred lines come together to form a razor sharp portrayal of each subjects deepest emotion. Through his unapologetic use of colour, he transmits a sensation of movement on still canvas.

Robert was introduced to Caribbean Art early in life and counts among his artistic inspirations Bosco Holder and Sundiata. He studied art both in his native Trinidad and Tobago as well as in New York City. His foremost subject has been the black female body, which he feels has been misrepresented in aritistic dialogue. “You must express the undercurrent – the real life force. I strive to capture the essence of the individual and just maybe the viewer recognizes some part of himself therein.”

Robert’s work has been shown in many group exhibitions as well as solo exhibits over the past eighteen years. Some of his most recent showings include ‘Women In Spirit’, Savacou Gallery (2001), ‘Black Romantic’, The Studio Museum in Harlem (2002), and a recent solo showing titled ‘Metamorphosis’ at Welancora Gallery in Bedford Stuyvesant (2003).

To hear him state it plainly, “Art is life! I paint my subjects as I experience them. Figurative painting and portraits are my main interests. I look at the human figure with a strong desire to convey the essence and character of the individual, be it beauty, pain or movement. This is what I aspire to bring to the viewer in the media of watercolour, charcoal and pastel.”