Promised land

Submitted byJeeraik009 onFri, 09/21/2012 - 12:16

Today, Rex Dixon's abstract paintings are full of Trinidad 'joie de vivre' so different from his brooding, graffiti covered surfaces when he first came to the Caribbean almost 30 years ago. These are effervescent, lava-like, hot colour canvases that reflect little of his earlier experiences in places with trauma and internal strife. His first home in the region was Jamaica where his naughts, crosses and bloody symbols inspired by Belfast and Northern Ireland's civil war found parallels with the political violence in Kingston during that time. This week, Dixon returns to Belfast with art work at the James Wray Gallery that shows how much life and his mood have changed in the past three decades. These brilliant canvases seem to have come full circle returning to Rex's pop art origins: they brim with optimism and a hope for better times.