Nature's Lines: New Works by John Beadle

on Thursday, February 16, 2012

John Beadle discusses recent exhibition, 'Nature's Lines'

On January 26th in a casual meeting at the Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery I had the pleasure of interviewing Bahamian artist John Beadle for my new column, 'Creative Loop' published in Arc Magazine. Unaware of the formalities of such conversations Beadle's easygoing personality married with my genuine enthusiasm to share his work made the conversation go smoothly. We touched on the inspiration behind Nature's Lines, feedback from the opening reception and the experience of exhibiting in Central Bank's gallery space for the first time. But at the heart of the conversation lied his feelings about the work and curiosities on how his audience would interact with it.

The Bahamas has seen many art shows over the years, but rarely comes along an artist brave enough to present a body of work that defies convention. The Central Bank of The Bahamas opened the year with one if its most provocative exhibitions to grace its gallery. Bahamian master artist John Beadle's recent work, ‘Nature's Lines’ draws our attention to the natural beauty of a line we often disregard. In what many deemed a long awaited solo exhibition, the crowds that filled the space proved this to be true. Bahamians from all walks of life joined together on January 19th to be a part of Beadle's monumental moment.



Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery (Exhibition Views)



Although a heavy space, the gallery welcomes you with a certain level of stillness as the collection of lines creep along the walls of its interiors personifying the simplicity of nature. Intrigued by their movement you journey with them as they travel throughout the space guiding you through their palette of earthy hues which mimic red soil, limestone white, and blackened charcoal with hints of cobalt blue. The moment the light hits their surface revealing the unusual textures of their weathered material of jasmine vine, red mangrove root-wood, plywood and cooper casting shadows beneath; you realize that these lines have entered a world of three dimension. Beadle feels the shadows play a crucial part in adding another element to the work. “I think the shadow creates the space, it forces you to see a piece from a distance and even when you come to it, it forces you to recognize there is space between – a separation between the wall and the outer edge.”


Those who follow Beadle's work know him to be an artist who uses unusual and sometimes salvaged materials in innovative ways so for them this exhibition comes as no surprise. In fact, a few may notice it bears a resemblance to some of his earlier work, ‘Fighting Hard, The Six of Us’ where he used short sections of vine material, attached to the surfaces of the assemblage and collage pieces. Beadle refers to the vine used then as "A gesture that emerged from the surface of the work. The aim then was to bring more dimension to the work… allow some aspect of the work to migrate off of the wall and into the viewer’s space."


I Don't Know about You, 2011 | Too Wicked, 2011 | Found Object #7, 2011 | Locomotion, 2011 (Left to Right)














The lines in his current work intertwine imbuing fierce, volatile, and arbitrary tones yet as a collection they are not boisterous or overwhelming, but quiet in nature with a gracious zen quality. Inside your space you feel you can touch them and should touch them. You gravitate with a sense of curiosity, but out of respect for art you stand back and resist that impulse. Beadle is interested in how viewers interact with the line. He’s curious to see their first reaction and then their hesitation. "If the first reaction is to touch then there is that level of comfort. So it’s endearing somehow. The air around the solid, the negative space is a mutual space between the object and the viewer ...allowing for a greater experience of the architecture of the object."

Beadle often readdresses elements of his work. He feels it is important to make it relevant to his current creative practice as its about "bringing his history forward to some extent". His present focus is concerned with the simplicity of the line and how space becomes an important role in the interpretation of the work. "This work is an attempt to liberate that gesture from all of the other elements that made those earlier works. My aim was to produce a line that did not work in service of anything other than itself... the line is the object. With this thinking, different kinds of lines became necessary; fine and fast, large and slow. Lines that would in a short travel, twenty four inches or so, go up and down, in toward the mounting surface and back into the gallery’s space. The line had to create its own space and occupy that space." explains Beadle.

For many who visited the exhibition ‘Kind of Blue… Somewhat’ stood out as the focal piece. Perhaps its size or prominence of blue contrast against the bare wall is what drew them in, but for me it was its uncanny resemblance to Grand Bahama, the fifth largest island in The Bahamas. Relating the work with something I was familiar and finding a common factor to how the lines created fascinating shapes became an interesting way of interpreting this work and appreciating its sculptural form.




John Beadle with piece 'Kind of...somewhat Blue  (Photograph by Kyle Smith)






"My response to the material is as slight as possible… the aim is to allow the lines, textures, animation of the material and the space around to be the most important aspect of the work. My touch is necessary only to isolate what is already there so as to allow others to focus on that thing(s) that I am focused on. It is all about the line and how it exists as a sculpture. A sculpture that hangs off the wall." Beadle explains.

Nature's Lines lends itself to no conceptual interpretation, in fact it is the most simple work Beadle has produced, but he maintains that "Sometimes the work is not about anything other than the work."




Exhibition Information:

Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Gallery  •  Frederick Street  •  Nassau, Bahamas.
January 16. 2012 - February 17. 2012  •  Monday - Friday 9:30 a.m - 4:30 p.m

The Lady behind Merci Me

on Thursday, February 9, 2012


I've had the privilege of knowing Mercy Ogole for almost 15 years. Since our high school days I've watched her blossom and come into her own as a successful fashion designer and entrepreneur. It is a pleasure to share her work and story with you. 


Mercy Ogole - Photography © 2011  Vojteck Chaprek | www.voyteck.co.uk


































Mercy is a 28 year old British fashion designer living in one of the most prominent fashion capitals in the world, cosmopolitan London. She was raised as the second to the last of ten sisters, who she describes as very individual, confident and mostly inspiring women. With their unique mixtures of style and characters she sees herself as an amalgamation of the ‘ten Eagles’ – as she refers to them since her surname translated in English means ‘eagle’. “An accountant, a therapist, a journalist, a beautician to name a few and though we resemble each other we are so different”. On top of it all she attributes a lot of what she does and who she is in Africa and the significance of the Ugandan culture she was raised in. “Africa is gloriously rich in people, nature, colour, art, music, fashion, food, culture, and minerals. I’m so proud to call it my foundation. I have the best mood board to work with”.
You can easily misjudge her though, she certainly appears to belong to a fashion profession but spending time with her you realize that she has much more substance than the frivolity that we often associate with the fashion industry. She is a movie fiend who loves to draw in her spare time whilst currently learning French, she’s considering studying philosophy and dabbles in photography. She continues on what seems like a weird mix of aspirations, hobbies and conquests that many wonder what time she gets to do them all and how wrong she makes you feel for stereotyping.
Mercy has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, something she is very thankful for since she believes it’s given her a solid foundation to running a successful fashion business. She feels her background in economics gives her a pragmatic perspective that not many creative people are fortunate to have.
Outside of Merci Me she works with young people in her local youth centre where she teaches and helps budding designers develop skills in fashion. ‘I encourage and support young people to start up their own businesses and gain financial independence, I want to give young people the confidence and growth that I got through financial empowerment and independence of using my skills’.


 Article appears in Stylezine's February 2012 issue 'Happily Ever After'

 Article appears in Stylezine's February 2012 issue 'Happily Ever After'


Fashion Label Merci Me started in Mercy’s bedroom at the tender age of sixteen, where she could be found customizing clothing into something she wanted since she was unwilling to settle for mainstream fashion. She was anything but your average teenager and so was her style. She began to learn and experiment and hasn’t stopped since. Even though very young at the time, as she began to embrace her unique style that soon grew infectious her clothing label was birthed and 11 years later is a fashion and jewelry designer with a classy women’s ready to wear collection.

Mercy draws inspiration from anything…anywhere. It could be from the most surprising and completely unrelated thing to the most common connection. She’s come to realize that fashion is in everything and everything is some kind of fashion. In its entirety, it’s an art by its own right. She fell in love with the idea that you could make something amazing from a piece of cloth.  She says “Like origami, where the possibilities are endless….to think that you could transform your own shape and visuals made her fall in love with the idea of becoming a designer. It’s completely empowering and self-assuring to know you have a talent that comes from your mind, heart and hands.” 
Mercy likes to think her style is different, classic and an ever evolving one, where originality and exclusivity are her main gearing factors. She hates the idea of a trend or season and embraces unconventional approaches to design. She’s says “I feel in order to make timeless clothing you can’t be influenced by mainstream fashion. So I endeavor to make pieces that demand creative credibility and are just simply beautiful.”
She has an “old soul” when it comes to fashion and prescribes to a time when the idea of style in fashion shows where intimate presentations, everyday was an opportunity to dress up, it was theatrical, it spoke, and it was always beautiful.. That’s what I would like to bring to Merci Me.
Merci occasionally branches out into fine art and other areas of design. In fact, she eventually hopes to design shoes and furniture and anything else she can put her hands to. She says “Creativity can be translated in so many ways; it would be wasteful to confine yourself to one outlet when the possibilities are endless”.

For more information visit her online: