[Exhibition]
Heart of a Lion: Streets of Kingston (presented by Blackwell Rum)

About This Event

A Gallery Showing and Sale of a limited edition series of Joshua Cogan's ongoing work from Jamaica. This selection is Curated by Eric Hilton and framed in the 100 year old joists left from Montserrat Houses reconstruction. The evening will feature the musical styling of Eric and several Guest DJ's as well as a visit by Ziggy Marley courtesy of Blackwell Rum. A portion of the proceeds will be returned back to the island to support HIV programs through the MAC aids Fund.

About the Series:
The work in this show is a representation of the beauty of Jamaica and its people. There are many experiences an outsider can have in Jamaica. Too often the experience is oversimplified, given to cultural tropes rehashed for tourists and consumers of its culture exports. Successive trips to the island allowed me to sink into the many layers of life. There is something about a people that have had promises made and broken one too many times. It is not a tangible sadness or defeat, but rather a bravery to go on, to live up.

The title of the show came from the mouth of a Jamaican friend during a recent trip. While driving through police checkpoints on the outskirts of Kingston, he took in the desolate landscape. He turned to me and said “Man, you have to have the heart of a Lion to live here." Street Poets abound in this place.

It is only through the bravery of its people that the true beauty of Jamaica is revealed. It is the resilience, the easiness - perhaps the only natural evolution in response to this hardened place - that gives breath to the music, soul and color. Despite its small size and seeming disadvantage, the universe conspired to create something special in Jamaica, turning rock to fertile soil. In these pictures I try to tell that truth.