Che Lovelace

Che Lovelace was born in San Fernando, Trinidad, and grew up in the east coast village of Matura.[http://artsocietytt.org/event/recent-paintings-by-che-lovelace/ "Recent Paintings By Che Lovelace"], The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago. He has said: "My 'passport' name is Cheikh Sedar Lovelace. Apparently, in 1969, the Anglican Church would not allow me to be christened Che. My parents made my first name Cheikh after the African historian-philosopher, Cheikh Anta Diop. I believe Sedar is after the Senegalese poet Léopold Sédar Senghor. Why they set me up to live up to the standard of such great men, I couldn't tell you."{{cite news|first=BC |last=Pires|url=https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.440589.f2db97905c |title=No easel way out|newspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Guardian|date=22 April 2011|access-date=23 April 2025}} Lovelace began surfing in his late teens and achieved prominence through winning national titles in the sport.[http://surfingtt.blogspot.com/ Surfing TnT] blogspot. He was educated at Queen's Royal College,{{cite news|first=Melissa|last=Doughty|url=https://newsday.co.tt/2018/08/13/che-lovelaces-journey-in-art/ |title=Che Lovelace's journey in art|newspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday|date=13 August 2018}} and went on to pursue his interest in art and to train at L'Ecole Régionale des Beaux-Arts de la Martinique in Fort-de-France.

Working as an artist since he graduated in 1993, Lovelace has experimented with various styles and materials, exploring in his subject matter dancehall, Carnival and dancing figures. In 1998, he was awarded a residency at the Gasworks Gallery, London, in a collaboration with the Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva), UNESCO's International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, and the Gasworks Studios.[https://www.gasworks.org.uk/residencies/jose-luis-lopez-rues-and-che-lovelace/ "Jose Luis López Reus and Che Lovelace"], Residencies, Gasworks.

Having been a founder and director of CLAY J'Ouvert, a traditional carnival outfit based in Woodbrook, Port of Spain,Ali, Shereen (4 February 2015), [https://www4.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2015-02-04/clay-j%E2%80%99ouvert-launches-la-habana "Clay J'Ouvert launches at La Habana"], Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421142457/https://www4.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2015-02-04/clay-j%25E2%2580%2599ouvert-launches-la-habana |date=21 April 2019 }}.[http://reccaribbean.com/2017/12/02/artist-che-lovelace-on-freedom-in-jouvert/ "Artist Che Lovelace on Freedom inJ'ouvert"], REC Magazine, 2 December 2017. Lovelace has gone on to develop with other J'ouvert lovers the "Friends For The Road J'Ouvert" project, honouring the ritual "Mud Mas" experience and featuring traditional masquerade characters.[https://friendsfortheroad.com/ Friends For The Road J'Ouvert] website.{{cite news|url=https://newsday.co.tt/2019/11/13/lovelace-to-show-new-work-at-the-loftt/|title=Lovelace to show new work at the Loftt|first=Debra |last=Greaves|work=Newsday|date=11 November 2019}}

In 2003, together with Peter Doig, Lovelace co-founded the alternative cinema space Studiofilmclub.{{cite news|first=F. G. |last=Cottam|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/peter-doig-a-perfectionist-in-paradise-776053.html |title=Peter Doig: A perfectionist in paradise|newspaper=The Independent|date=31 January 2008}} Lovelace also lectures at the University of the West Indies Creative Arts Campus.[https://web.archive.org/web/20190421150814/http://arcthemagazine.com/arc/2014/05/uwi-visual-arts-degree-art-and-design-exhibition-2014/ "UWI Visual Arts Degree Art and Design Exhibition 2014"], ARC Magazine, 7 May 2014.

In 2017, The New Yorker noted: "Poised on the border between Cubism and realism, Lovelace doesn't really belong to any school; part of the beauty of the show lies in watching the artist establish his own rich vocabulary and letting the work stand on its own. He's not afraid of pleasure and knows how much the soul craves color—a refuge during these dark days."[https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/art/che-lovelace "Che Lovelace"], Goings on About Town, The New Yorker, 2017. Reviewing Lovelace's first exhibition in France in 2017, Le Figaro said that his use of landscape and bright colour recalled that of Gauguin and Matisse.{{cite news|first=Margaux |last=d'Adhémar|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/2017/07/01/03015-20170701ARTFIG00009-visite-virtuelle-de-l-exposition-che-lovelace.php |title=Visite virtuelle de l'exposition Che Lovelace|newspaper=Le Figaro|date=1 July 2017|access-date=23 April 2025}}

In a 2018 interview, Lovelace said: "I've seen the landscape in a variety of ways–as a surfer, as a country man growing up in Matura, as an artist in the city, as a participator in cultural events. So I always want my work to reflect that."[http://reccaribbean.com/2018/08/14/che-lovelace-and-his-recent-paintings/ "Che Lovelace and his Recent Paintings"], REC Magazine, 14 August 2018. He has also said: "I'm not really settled unless I'm trying new things with my work. I'm always pushing to the next thing."{{cite web|url=https://avantarte.com/artists/che-lovelace|title=Che Lovelace: Joyfully energetic painting and performance relishes in experimentation|website=Avant Arte|access-date=27 April 2023}}

Lovelace's work was shown in 2021 at the gallery Various Small Fires in Los Angeles, his second solo show in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/che-lovelace-various-small-fires-trinidad|title=In the Studio with Che Lovelace, the Painter Putting Trinidad on the Art-World Map|first=Steph |last=Eckardt|website=W Magazine|date=15 March 2021|access-date=27 April 2023}} His other more recent exhibitions have been Bathers (Nicola Vassell, New York, 2023) and Day Always Comes (Corvi-Mora, London, 2023).{{cite web|url=https://www.corvi-mora.com/artist/che-lovelace/|title=Che Lovelace|website=Corvi-Mora|access-date=27 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newexhibitions.com/e/61381|title=Che Lovelace: Day Always Comes {{!}} 28 Apr-4 Jun 2023|website=New Exhibitions|access-date=27 April 2023}}

In 2023, after a selection process led by curator Ekow Eshun, Lovelace was commissioned to create a new artwork to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the baptism of African abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano at St James's, Piccadilly, to be installed in the church entrance on 20 September 2023 – the first permanent artwork anywhere in the world to commemorate Cugoano.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66787944|title=Quobna Cugoano: London church honours Ghanaian-born freed slave and abolitionist|first=Penny|last=Dale|website=BBC News|date=20 September 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://newsday.co.tt/2023/08/08/che-lovelace-paintings-to-honour-abolitionist-in-london-church/|title=Che Lovelace paintings to honour abolitionist in London church|newspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday|first=Melissa|last=Doughty|date=8 August 2023|access-date=20 September 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.london.anglican.org/articles/st-jamess-church-piccadilly-to-commemorate-forgotten-figure-in-history-of-black-britain/|title=St James's Church Piccadilly to commemorate forgotten figure in history of Black Britain|website=Diocese of London|date=27 July 2023|access-date=20 September 2023}} As described in The Guardian, "Lovelace's work is infused with rich colours and bold shapes and straddles the boundary between magical realism, abstraction and the beauty of the natural world."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/20/london-st-james-church-artwork-abolitionist-quobna-ottobah-cugoano-che-lovelace|title=London church unveils artwork to commemorate African-born abolitionist|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Nadia|last=Khomami|author-link=Nadia Khomami|date=20 September 2023}} On 22 September, Lovelace was in conversation about his paintings with Rector of St James's Lucy Winkett.{{cite web|url=https://fadmagazine.com/2023/09/22/new-permanent-artwork-commission-at-st-jamess-church-commemorates-forgotten-figure-in-black-history/|title=New permanent artwork commission at St James’S Church commemorates forgotten figure in Black history.|website=FAD magazine|first= Mark|last=Westall|date=22 September 2023}}

In April 2025, Lovelace was appointed Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters), an honour awarded by the French government, which was presented to him at the Embassy of France in Trinidad and Tobago, in recognition of his "exceptional contributions to the arts and his pivotal role in bringing Caribbean visual expression to the global forefront."{{cite news|url=https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/che-lovelace-awarded-knight-of-the-order-of-arts-and-letters-6.2.2286526.360aa2e2a8|title=Che Lovelace awarded Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters|newspaper=Trinidad & Tobago Guardian |first=Kristy|last=Ramnarine|date=20 April 2025}}

• 2013: Lovers, Y Art Gallery, Woodbrook, Port of Spain{{cite web|first=Marsha|last=Pearce| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619002722/http://arcthemagazine.com/arc/2013/04/lovers-of-art-an-interview-with-che-lovelace/ |title=Lovers of Art: An Interview with Che Lovelace|website=ARC Magazine|date= 21 April 2013|access-date=23 April 2025}}
• 2016: 8 Paintings, Softbox Studio, St Clair, Trinidad{{cite news|first=Paula |last=Lindo|url=https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.360368.dcce3949ee |title=Lovelace shows new works|newspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Guardian|date=20 November 2016|access-date=23 April 2025}}
• 2017: Galerie Éric Hussenot, Paris
• 2017: Half Gallery, New York{{Cite web|title=Che Lovelace|url=https://halfgallery.com/che-lovelace|access-date=2020-09-08|website=HALF GALLERY|language=en-US}}
• 2018: Recent painting, LOFTT Gallery, Port of Spain (20 July–10 August)
• 2019: a PLACE, a PERSON, LOFTT Gallery, Port of Spain (15 November–29 November){{Cite web|last=Buzz Media|title=a PLACE, a PERSON – Paintings by Che Lovelace ID 25569|url=https://buzz.tt/event/view/a-place-a-person-paintings-by-che-lovelace-25569|access-date=8 September 2020|website=buzz.tt|language=en}}
• 2021: From the Edge of the Rock, Various Small Fires (VSF), Los Angeles (6 March–17 April){{cite web|url=http://www.vsf.la/che-lovelace-from-the-edge-of-the-rock/|title=Che Lovelace: From the Edge of the Rock|website=VSF|access-date=26 August 2021}}
• 2022: Presented as Natural, Various Small Fires, Seoul (12 January–16 February 2022){{cite web|url=https://www.vsf.la/exhibitions/53-che-lovelace-presented-as-natural/overview/|title=Che Lovelace|publisher=Various Small Fires|access-date=27 April 2023}}
• 2003: Bathers, Nicola Vassell, New York (9 March–22 April 2023){{cite web|url=https://www.nicolavassell.com/exhibitions/18-che-lovelace-bathers/|title=Che Lovelace {{!}} Bathers|publisher=Nicola Vassell|location=New York|access-date=27 April 2023}}
• 2023: Day Always Comes, Corvi-Mora, London (28 April–4 June 2023)

In 2021, Lovelace's painting "Nyabinghi Drummers" was acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=https://www.moca.org/collection/work/nyabinghi-drummers|title=Che Lovelace {{!}} Nyabinghi Drummers|website=MOCA|date=2021|access-date=26 August 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/artist/che-lovelace |title=Che Lovelace|website=Artsy}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www2.cnc3.co.tt/sports/sport-insight-che-lovelace "Sport Insight - Che Lovelace"]. Video interview with Astil Renn, CNC3, 25 May 2016.
• Stephanie Eckardt, [https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/che-lovelace-various-small-fires-trinidad "In the Studio with Che Lovelace, the Painter Putting Trinidad on the Art-World Map"], W magazine, 15 March 2021.
• [https://super-nyc.com/Che-Lovelace "Che Lovelace"] (interview), Super! Retrieved 26 August 2021.
• [https://cerebralwomen.com/2021/06/23/episode-71-a-conversation-with-che-lovelace/ "A Conversation with Che Lovelace"], Cerebral Women Episode 71, 23 June 2021.

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Category:1969 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century male artists

Category:Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad

Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Category:People from San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

Category:Trinidad and Tobago artists

Category:Trinidad and Tobago surfers