Caribbean Colors Art Gallery:
Located on Front Street, Caye Caulker, Belize Central America
Telephone from the U.S. 011-501-22-2206
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Closed Sunday and Monday
Gallery Interior:
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The Studio
Lee’s view from her San Pedro window seems to go on forever. The beach, the sun and the infinite turquoise water deceive you into thinking that there is no beginning and the there is no end. When the sun goes down in the Caribbean, the stars come out and the Milky Way makes us step out of our bodies and reach for the infinite. This is the challenge of the existentialist artist. Lee Kroll leads us to some clarity of thought in her interpretation of the cosmos in its simplistic declarations.
Caribbean art emulates conflicts in time and space. Caribbean artists commonly gravitate toward existentialist themes and often their works use nature as their center-point. In a paradise in which sunny days run into sunny weeks and the clock becomes less and less relevant, high impact, brilliant colors, creates the illusion of immediateness. The days are long but the moments are poignant. Although life seems forever, the tropical colors demand an immediate response. This is the common thread expressed by Caribbean artists, as their art often takes the form of sets, moment by moment, descriptions in stark art works.
Confused themes and themes about hopelessness also commonly show up in Caribbean art. These and political themes are not in the rapport of Caribbean Colors. Kroll’s themes are celebrations of the layers of life that lay in the coral reefs, the sandy beaches and tropical jungles of Belize. Lee Kroll leads us to some clarity of thought in her interpretation of the cosmos in its simplistic declarations. The Caribbean landscapes are truly paradise as the rest of the world envisions it. But The tropical climate demands a lot in its extremes. An outsider and an insider in Belize communities, always giving a helping hand when possible, Kroll reports on the Caribbean that exists in its infinity of color playing on color and life layered on life.
The tepid waters of the Caribbean are a reminder that on Mother Earth this was likely the conditions in which all life began. Viewing the Great Barrier Reef of Belize the visitor sees in stark, bright, vibrant colors and patterns that Mother Nature continues to try new combinations and new themes for evolution as seen in the myriad of shapes and sizes of fishes in the corals. If the fundamentalist view is preferred then all this beauty for our own enjoyment. This does not change the nature of the experience of the viewer. Observing the intensity of the beauty of nature on the reef, in the in-shore waters or in the savanna or in the jungles, evokes emotions of shear reverence for what is here for the observer to absorb. Either way, Kroll brings these themes home.