Wendy Nanan (born 1955) is an artist from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. Much of her work focuses on the multi-racial aspects of Trinidadian society, often featuring images of religious figures and post-colonial symbolism. Nanan has exhibited in Paris, France; London, England; Washington DC and Kentucky, USA; Prince Edward Island and British Columbia, Canada; Johannessburg, South Africa; and the Dominican Republic.

Biography

Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, she took classes at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

, before obtaining her BFA in Painting from

Wolverhampton Polytechnic The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

in 1979. She has been exhibiting regularly worldwide since 1985, and is currently based in the town of her birth. She attended

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

matches with her parents in childhood, an experience reflected in some of her work. She works in various media, including painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Nanan's work is included in the National Museum and Art Gallery collection in Port of Spain. Her images are featured in a limited edition first-day cover for Royal Mail's "World of Invention" stamp issue, celebrating the London Cricket Conference 1–3 March 2007, first international workshop of its kind, hosted by the

Institute of Commonwealth Studies The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, founded in 1949, is the sole postgraduate academic institution in the United Kingdom devoted to the study of the Commonwealth. It is also home to the longest-running interdisciplinary and practice-oriented ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In a 2012 exhibition entitled ''Independence'', at Medulla Art Gallery, Port of Spain, she applied her art to interrogate Trinidad and Tobago's 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain: several life-sized multi-ethnic queenly heads layered with postage stamps from former British colonies now forming the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

, revealed how the image of England’s queen was projected into all corners of the world, reflected today in lingering colonial mentalities. Wendy Nanan is represented in two art history publications: ''Caribbean Art'' by Veerle Poupeye, and ''Art in the Caribbean'' by Anne Walmsley and Stanley Greaves.Anne Walmsley and Stanley Greaves, ''Art in the Caribbean – an Introduction'',

New Beacon Books New Beacon Books is a British publishing house, bookshop, and international book service that specializes in Black British, Caribbean, African, African-American and Asian literature. Founded in 1966 by John La Rose and Sarah White, it was the ...

, 2010. , paperback, 184 pages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanan, Wendy 1955 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago women artists 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago painters Trinidad and Tobago sculptors Trinidad and Tobago printmakers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago painters 20th-century sculptors 21st-century sculptors 20th-century women artists 21st-century women artists Trinidad and Tobago women painters Trinidad and Tobago women sculptors Women printmakers Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton People from Port of Spain 20th-century printmakers