Philly, look around you. You see art everywhere. From LOVE Park, to Mural Arts, to Rittenhouse Square — the City of Brotherly Love is a cultural mecca for contemporary, impressionistic, and young visual artists from the diaspora (who display diverse storytelling narratives throughout the city).

Presently, the country of Haiti has a deep tradition of evocative art that is thriving here in Philly. Thematically, young artists of the diaspora are pushing the boundaries, while also honoring culture and traditions. Brothers Jean-Jacques and Claes Gabriel are both living and creating art in West Philadelphia. Though their styles are vastly different, both artists find deep pride in coming from the only country built out of a successful slave rebellion — a theme that resonates through their work.

Originally born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Claes Gabriel (pictured above) immigrated to the United States in 1989 and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1999. Inspired by modernists such as Frank Stella and Sam Gilliam, Gabriel’s work lives beyond the confines of a flat wall; he stretches and sews canvases taut over wooden armatures to construct masks and free-standing statues. After considering the natural shape of the piece, Gabriel uses bright acrylics to pull out patterns, eyes, lips, and personality that seem to rise to the surface of their own free will. He has been exhibited in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Baltimore, MD; Washington DC; and Paris, France. Gabriel’s work is included in the permanent collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD. Gabriel depicts beauty, order, and evocative quasi-modernist realism in works that symbolize individualism.



Recently, Gabriel’s work (Boat People, pictured at top of article) was featured on Mural Arts Philadelphia’s website: www.muralarts.org/artworks/boat-people.

Boat People is a glimpse of the journeys taken by fleeing refugees. The painting depicts individuals on a crowded boat and a central figure wearing a ceremonial white mask. The figure’s body contains a boat floating above a sea of red, symbolizing the blood shed from the difficult journey. This painting addresses the idea that we all, at some point or another in history, arrived to this land by boat. The heroism placed on pioneers and the stain placed on outsiders echoes the sentiments felt by the artists experience as an immigrant from Haiti. The Haitian revolution is a recurring theme in Gabriel’s work, whereby 25,000 refugees arrived to the United States by boat.

Boat People reminds us that there is unity to be found amongst all revolutionaries. Immigration, individualism, and culturally significant artwork synthesize the harmony of diasporic art in Philadelphia.

Additional information regarding features, exhibits, recent works can be found at www.claesgabriel.com