by Asher Mains, Art House 473

Upon the completion of the 9th Grenada Contemporary, Islands in Dialogue, Art House 473 in Calliste continues to host institutional-level activity for art in Grenada.

Since 2014, Susan Mains Gallery and, by extension, Art House 473, has produced contemporary exhibitions of local and international art. As of the 2025 edition, 106 artists have shown in the Grenada Contemporary, and it continues to offer an opportunity for artists to explore concepts and themes beyond our local art market.

For the 2026 edition, as opposed to an open call and exhibition, the Grenada Contemporary took the form of 5 days of activities led by visiting artists Edward Bowen and Yao Ramesar, both from Trinidad. Bowen, exhibiting artwork as a participant in the Grenada National Pavilion at the Biennale di Venezia, took artists through 4 days of a formational painting workshop/intro to studio practice. Bowen delivered inspired infusions of his own wisdom and experience in the art world while also musing about how the Caribbean region functions and performs artistically. In conversation with Asher Mains, resident director of Art House 473, topics such as audience, market, context, and relevance emerged as we have Caribbean-based discussions on global platforms.

The final evening of the week was a film screening with filmmaker Yao Ramesar who generously shared his award-winning film, Fortune for All, followed by an insightful discussion. Ramesar, also focused on what it means to produce artwork from a Caribbean-centric perspective, explores, as an example, how filmmakers can capitalise on natural, local light in production as opposed to leaning towards the conventional big studio treatment of light in film. Telling local stories using conventions that are locally intuitive was a theme throughout the 5 days. Islands in Dialogue was an opportunity to share notes about theory and practice in art between Grenada and Trinidad, and is part of a larger regional conversation where Grenada plays a role in staging and promoting artists from other islands as well.

Yao Ramesar speaking about his award-winning film, Fortune for All. Photo: Art House 473

Almost without exception, all of the artists who have gone on to represent Grenada at La Biennale di Venezia have shown work with the Grenada Contemporary. This includes Russell Watson from Barbados, who currently has a piece in Venice. The title of the pavilion, The Poetics of Correspondence, crafted after curator Koyo Kouoh’s In Minor Keys, drives this idea home — that there are intangible yet profound links between how we practice and display our artwork in the region in conversation with each other. Valentina Minniti, an Italian curator and art critic, reflects on Watson’s work: “Watson has long explored the relationship between the human body, Caribbean ecologies, and metaphorical transformation, recreating visual conditions in which perception hovers between subtle sensation and apparent representation.” This is an important “in-betweeness” that often eludes those that need literal descriptions of the inarticulable.

Art House 473 is the node where many of these conversations come together and are documented. Catalogues from Grenada’s 9 appearances at La Biennale di Venezia, as well as exhibition literature from other countries and exhibitions, are housed there. Additionally, activities such as life drawing sessions, classes, and exhibitions help to fuel the local art ecology. For all of this, Art House 473 has not received funding from the Government of Grenada or any outside funding source, but rather is funded by the sale of art by Susan and Asher Mains. The 2026 edition of the 9th Grenada Contemporary was made possible in part by Blue Horizons Garden Resort, Susan Mains Gallery, and, of course, Art House 473.

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