Martin Superville hosts art exhibition celebrating local culture

SOCIETY cannot function without art.

This is the belief of local artist and businessman Martin Superville who has been spreading the joy of art for decades. Superville latest art exhibition is a celebration of local culture and history. The exhibition will be held from October 14-19, The Art Society, Federation Park, Port of Spain

The exhibition will showcase about 50 pieces that will portray dance, steelpan, the traditional Tobago wedding, the grandeur of Pigeon Point, Indian dance, flamenco dance, Tobago jig, portraiture and landscape art (including the traditional cane field).

On opening night the exhibit will run from 6-9pm, and from 10am to 5pm for the remaining period.

Living in Tobago but originally from Santa Cruz, Superville has had an impressive career with his work displayed around the Queen’s Park Savannah, the Piarco International Airport, First Citizens Bank, the corporate boxes at the Queen’s Park Oval, Wall Street Club, billboards across the country, and many other locations.

Superville's love for art began at the age of four when as his creativity “took hold” of him.

It all started when his mother returned from England with paint and colourless pictures that were numbered and were to be painted according to the respective numbers – an art education concept that is now normalised at pre-school and primary-school level.

He initially followed the number scheme provided, but as he developed his creative mind, he eventually deviated from the default system and coloured in his own way. At this point, he knew that art was his calling.

Despite his brilliance in art, Superville said he struggled academically and was not able to finish his school years. But his determination and love for art pushed him to continue pursuing his passion.

Teaching himself through borrowed library books, he began to excel in landscape and portrait paintings, as well as drawing and woodwork.

Now, Superville, 57, is one of the most successful artists in TT.

In an interview with Newsday, he described being an artist as a selfless career. He said, “The reason why I’ve become successful is because of that phrase: do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

“For you to create, you must have a sense of peace within yourself. You cannot be a creator in war. It’s very difficult for creatives to excel in an environment that is noisy.”

Superville is determined to ensure that people learn the value of art, artists and the work put into the craft.

“There’s nothing more expensive than art. (Dutch painter Vincent) Van Gogh’s work sells for US$100,000,000 – a canvas, a painting! That’s about the same cost as a government building. We have to learn to appreciate why art is that valuable.

“The value of Van Gogh’s paintings is in its historical significance and the skill required to paint with such excellence for the time that he was in."

He also believes that creativity is human nature and society must embrace that.

“God is a creator and He made us in His image and likeness. Therefore, we are also creators; we are designed to create. He even gave us the opportunity to create human beings. God never created babies, humans created babies based on our nature to create.”

Following his early childhood journey, he was introduced to woodwork at a woodwork factory at 12 years old and was given the opportunity to build furniture.

Not long after, he was employed at Dave Ramadhar’s Printery in San Juan where he was inspired by the printing machine’s ability to print colourful images with just four colours – yellow, blue, red and black.

From then, he reimagined black-and-white newspaper images and gave them colour with the four colours that the printer used, and transformed black-and-white images into colour.

Up to present day, he continues the tradition of black-and-white artwork.

At 16, Superville became fascinated with body painting and hand-painted clothing, alongside his friend Charles Welch. He recalled a club in Port of Spain hosting an artistic competition and several women volunteering to have their bodies painted.

They then went on to do hand-painted clothing work, which started by splashing paint on t-shirts, and eventually led to airbrush designs on various clothing.

Superville, owner of The Art Gallery in Lowlands, Tobago, has been selling other artists’ work for the past three decades and helping push the industry forward. He has hosted exhibitions in Barbados, Anguilla, Antigua, Washington (US) and New York, (US).

He encouraged art enthusiasts to enjoy the latest exhibition and appreciate local culture through art.