At six-foot-six inches the world doesn’t leave you alone, and if you are black then you catch more of the unwanted attention, believes American artist Hubert Neal Jr. now working in residence at Palette People Artists’ Residency, Vagamon. As an artist who feels strongly about aberrations in society Hubert wished to take a long, distant view of the social and political issues concerning the black community in America. He zeroed in on the hills of Vagamon as a getaway. “One of the reasons I chose to come to Kerala was because a lot of the people looked like me, either in features or colour, when in my own country I’m often treated as suspect, or as a suspect,” says Hubert who has faced the brunt of hate crimes. Besides anthropological familiarity with India, the country holds special meaning for him as one line of his ancestry, his great grandmother Lillian Sankar, hailed from southern India.
Born and raised in Chicago and currently living in a white neighbourhood in Miami, Hubert’s family is originally from Belize in Central America. “Lillian came to Belize from southern India. Her married name is Squires. Her name before marriage was Lillian Sankar,” says the 38-year-old artist who has clear memories of his great grandmother who lived to the ripe old age of 98. Though unsure if he shares any personality traits or features with her he is sure that she was a “peaceful soul.”
His maiden visit here is about working on a series on his splintered society that has left him scarred. At 17, he was frisked by the police, when they were on the look out for a convict. “I fitted the profile, they said,” he says, adding that one would know what frisking by the police in America meant. The rampant violence and discrimination against the blacks continues, he says. “I don’t know if it is worse than before but it is epidemic.”
Hubert schooled in all disciplines of art and graduated from the Chicago Academy for the Arts. He tried his hand at theatre and television to good success but it was painting he felt that best conveyed his thoughts. His early obsession, as an artist, was to become technically proficient but he realised that his talent comes with responsibility, a responsibility to address issues and contribute to social progress. “My mission is to create art that highlights the diversity of our world.”
It took form in a series that began in 1997, collating true stories of police atrocities on the blacks in America. “Black people make up 12 per cent of the USA, yet, black men make up most of the prison population, are more likely to be unemployed, and are killed at an alarming rate by police officers. I feel there is a war against people who look like me.”
In the silence of Vagamon, the latest stories of oppression against blacks came to haunt him. He added 16 works to the series - Black and Blue: the Police and Black America that depicts several recent incidents of hate crime - of Rodney King, Natasha McKenna, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell…to name a few.
Using the pictorial format - a clear, forthright visual language of story telling, Hubert’s works are about hard truths and true lies. A limited colour palette of blue, black and brown add to the poignancy of the acts of injustice. His minimalist style and careful choice of colours is used effectively. He says, “I have come to realise that you must keep things simple.”
Vagamon assuaged his troubled mind. As he drew furiously venting his anger down with acrylic on canvas he was pampered timely with delectable food and coffee by the caretaker staff, Benny and Prasad. He ended up making their portraits, something that Hubert says he has not done for a long time. So embroiled were his thoughts in tales of injustice that gentler silhouettes of landscapes had eluded his painting style , but amidst the rolling hills and the pristine peaks of Vagamon this form of painting was stoked. Walks to the hill tops calmed him, he says and after a hiatus from sketching natural beauty he drew out the landscape. Kochi too was easy on him. At a cemetery in Fort Kochi where he went with his handler, he felt that ironically man reveres the dead more than he does the living. Such thoughts and narratives on his travels are his daily entry in his travel blog, an artist and his travels. Photographing local cuisine and the people in Kerala, Hubert enjoyed the sabbatical and returns recharged.
“I have loved my time here , in Kerala, and it was an interesting juxtaposition to be spoiled by strangers when in my own country I am often treated unfairly. As a side note I wish to explore in depth about my great grandmother who was from India.” Hubert’s works will be on show at Art Corridor in Hotel Le Meridien shortly.
