Che Lovelace's Grid-Based Paintings Offer a Psychedelic Vision of Trinidad at Corvi-Mora

Che Lovelace presents ten paintings at Corvi-Mora in London, on view until 17 June. His works depict scenes from Trinidad, employing a style that merges cubist angles with realism. The exhibition includes pieces like The Breath (2022), featuring a reclining man in swimming trunks under a night sky, and Street Dance (2016–22), capturing a carnival scene. Lovelace's technique involves using four compressed-paper board panels per painting, a method developed in the mid-1990s due to the cost and scarcity of canvas in Trinidad. This grid structure allows for disjointed imagery, as seen in Moonlight Searchers (2022) with two naked women in undergrowth, and The Red House (2021), where each panel can stand alone. His art references Trinidadian figures like Boscoe Holder and influences from Peter Doig, while challenging colonial tropes associated with equatorial tropics, such as those in Charles Warren Stoddard's writings or Paul Gauguin's paintings. The paintings convey the multifaceted stories of modern Trinidad through both subject matter and formal innovation.