Thomias Radin The Myth of a Caribbean Boy, 2021

The Myth of a Caribbean Boy, 2021, is an oil painting on linen in artist frame.

The painting depicts a profile of a Black man, modeled after the artist himself, who is framed within a square made up of panels suggesting wood and marble. The figure is touched by waves which seem to directly rise from the ocean that forms the background of the image. Despite having a figure at its center, the painting remains somewhat abstract with the man’s face obscured by a slab or marble, and his flat-top resembling a burning horizon as much as a haircut. The man’s shirt is similarly colorful and in the corner of the image within the image, there is a colorful fragmented form that suggests a tropical tree.

As its title suggests, the painting tackles the question of Caribbean identity from a post-colonial perspective. As in many of his works, Radin plays with the outsider view of the Caribbean as a luxury destination, lush and radiant, and his own lived experience that includes the colonial past of the island as well as its people’s resistance then and now.