Che Lovelace's artwork features on Italian-released Caroni rum packaging

THE WORK of artist Che Lovelace is well known in TT, and over the years he has added some prestigious international credits to his portfolio. So much so that he caught the attention of CEO of one of the leading fine wines and spirits importers in Europe, who offered him an opportunity to work on a special project.

On his Facebook page on June 25, Lovelace posted, “It is with real Trinidadian pride that I share this project which has been in the works for a couple years. This collaboration with the Italian/ French vintage rum firm, La Maison & Velier @lamaisonandvelier will feature 21 of my paintings on bottles and packaging for these rare Trinidadian rums recently launched in Europe.”

Lovelace told Sunday Newsday it began when La Maison & Velier founder and CEO Luca Gargano became interested in his paintings.

“The first interest literally stemmed from my paintings, just coming out of covid, when my work began to become a bit more recognised outside of TT. We started having some conversations and he subsequently acquired a few of my paintings. We continued talking, and he mentioned the Caroni rums.”

Lovelace did his research and found out that Gargano collected rums from all over the world and had bought a quantity of wooden casks of Caroni rums, some dating back to 1974.

“Two decades ago he visited TT and acquired the last casks of aged brown rum from the then-recently closed Caroni (1975) Ltd rum distillery… He had 21 casks left and he wanted to do something a bit more creative with it…

I don’t think they had done something like this before, so this was a kind of new step.”

The Caroni distillery, established in 1923, was closed in 2002.

Lovelace said when Gargano looked at the trajectory with his artwork, the number of pieces coming out of his Chagauramas studio and the exhibitions, the idea of a series of his artwork was born.

“And because of my themes as well, because my themes are very Trinidadian and they vary. I don’t paint one part of Trinidad, I tend to do things like still lives, interior, I also like to work with the body, and movement and dance. I also work with the landscape to a certain degree,” and of course, his work sometimes reflects his other love – surfing.

He said the very last of the rum from Caroni is “precious,” and the idea of doing something uniquely Trinidadian with it was what brought about the idea of using his paintings on the packaging.

“Each cask probably delivers about 200-plus bottles of rum, so they’re very limited.”

Lovelace said he gave the company access to a pool of images of his recent work – some of which no longer belong to him – and Gargano and his team chose the ones they wanted to use.

“So far they have released five.”

As an artist, Lovelace said, even if he no longer owns the originals of his work, he does not need permission to do reproductions.

“Those paintings could belong to anyone, but artists always keep the copyrights and reproduction rights to their paintings. It’s a written and unwritten rule…Many of those paintings that are going to be featured, I don’t own them, but the rights to the images remain with me.”

Lovelace said he is just as elated as an up-and-coming artist would be about an opportunity like this. For while many people see him as an established artist here in TT, on the international scale he considers himself an “emerging artist,” even though over the last few years he’s had a lot of visibility, including the sale of a 2012 painting, Student, to actor Will Smith.

“I’ve done a lot of exhibitions in different countries, I’m working with several people to put my work out there, so I’m just as happy as a lesser-known artist, because I think it is an opportunity to have dialogue with the larger world, and that’s something that has always been central for me…

“And this is a good example of that happening, because (of) the fact that it is not just one image, it’s a substantial representation of art coming from here. I always say, with these things, your work speaks for itself. It was not something I had to pitch, for example. I think if your work is happening and people see it, that opens up conversations and you don’t have to say a word sometimes. You just have to make sure that you’re doing your work and people see it and conversations and projects can emerge from that.”

Lovelace said many people have been critical of the fact that a foreigner came to TT and was able to buy something as priceless as the last of the Caroni rum at a low price, and he believes TT needs to be more aware of the treasures it has at home.

“I think we have to learn from our blind spots – the things that we miss that are right in front of our eyes. Sometimes we can have really amazing things happening right here, and because we are either distracted or looking outside all the time, whatever the reason, we miss it.”

But, he said, he might not have had an opportunity like this one if the rum had been bought by locals.

“While I understand the sentiment of a foreign entity owning, in some ways, the capital of a country – the things they make, their products, any aspect of it – that that can be seen as problematic for a place trying to develop its own capital, its own voice."

But, he pointed out, "No local rum manufacturer has ever come to me and spoken to me about doing artistic collaborations. That to me is an indication that one is not sure that this would have happened if a local manufacturer had bought the rum.”

Lovelace was born in San Fernando and grew up in Matura in east Trinidad. He received his fine arts training at L’Ecole Régionale d’Arts Plastiques de la Martinique, Fort-de-France from 1991-94 and his work has been featured in a number of local, regional and international publications, among them the BBC, New York Times and Harpers Bazar. He has done residencies in TT, Venezuela, England and Uganda, and now lectures at UWI's Creative Arts Department. In 2023 he was commissioned to paint a permanent artwork at the St James Church in Piccadilly, London. The work marked the 25th anniversary of the baptism of 18th century abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano.

This Caroni rum project, he said, was just one of many on which he has been working, having had solo exhibitions in New York, Texas and London last year.

“I’ve also done quite a few group exhibitions. There is one currently on in Texas, at the Fort Worth Modern Museum of Art. There was also something at the Dulwich Gallery in the UK.”

He has also set his sights on Accra, Ghana, where his work will be part of a group exhibit that centres on the theme Time and the Perception of Time.

“This will feature a line-up of internationally known artists as well as artists from Ghana and the wider African continent."

After that, he has a line-up of solo exhibitions next year in New York, Seoul, Korea and London, as well as a book project with Italian publisher SKIRA.

But right now, he is relishing the recognition of 21 pieces of his work that will find their way into homes of people worldwide, some of whom he will never know.

“For me, this is a testament of our potential. At our best, this small place can reach every corner of the globe with a bit of beauty and magic to share.”