The Davidoff Art Initiative has announced the 2016 launch
of the second Davidoff Limited Art Edition featuring a specially commissioned
video work by artist Olivia McGilchrist. An exclusive preview of the video,
titled “from many sides”, took place at the Moving Image Art Fair from March
3-6 in New York City.
As a Jamaican-French artist and videographer, Olivia
McGilchrist’s work is rooted in a Caribbean-centred, multi-media art practice
that couples new technology with local platforms to explore contemporary
cultural connections from the African diaspora. By interweaving moving images
and sounds, the artist suffuses the natural world with new
meanings and colours that capture the history of the Caribbean.
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| Artist Olivia McGilchrist's "from many sides" video still (Picture: Oettinger Davidoff) |
An immersive, multi-sensory experience
“from many sides” uses digitised renderings to create an immersive,
multi-sensory experience that blends landscapes, cultures, stories and people
of the Caribbean region and highlights the rich heritage of the region through
a variety of content unique to local experiences, reworked and presented as an
interactive work of art.
McGilchrist, who was born in Jamaica and moved to Europe
when she was three, said: “My recent creative practice is deeply inspired by a
longing to reconnect with my birth land as well as the cultural space of the
Caribbean. My education abroad awarded me the opportunity to learn new media technology
platforms, but I also had access to local art hubs and traditional artistic
practices when I returned home to Jamaica. Because of the duality of my
experiences, I aspire to create artwork that overturns biographical or social
expectations through a Caribbean-centred, multi-media arts practice.”
Launched by Swiss cigar specialist Oettinger Davidoff AG in 2012, the Davidoff Art Initiative was
designed to build more visibility for art and artists in the Caribbean. In
addition to offering residencies and grants, the initiative produced the first
Limited Art Edition cigar box in 2014, featuring the work of Cuban-born artist
Quisqueya Henríquez.
The values of crafting and blending
“Davidoff is continuously looking for new ways to engage
with and support contemporary art. The Limited Art Edition supports the Davidoff Art Initiative’s
mission of familiarising the international audience with artists from the Caribbean
and it helps fund the Davidoff Art Initiative at the same time,” said
Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, CEO of Oettinger Davidoff AG. “Olivia’s video work is
a fascinating visual blend of regionally specific elements. Because crafting
and blending are the same values at the heart of everything we do, we feel that
Davidoff is perfectly matched with this extraordinary artist.”
The Limited Art Edition 2016 will be produced in an
edition of 7,000 and will include the digital work of video art on carrier
media with custom-made cigars designed specifically for the project. A highly
limited run of Collectors Editions is also being released. These will include
one of 16 numbered editions of the commissioned video, a unique still image
from the video, and a signed certificate by the artist.
Shortly after the premiere at the Moving Image Art Fair
in New York, a preview and artist introduction will take place during Art Basel
in Hong Kong from March 24-26, 2016. Both the Limited Art Edition 2016 and Collectors
Edition will be unveiled in June 2016 during Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland.
The 2016 Davidoff Limited Art Editions and Collectors
Editions will be available at Davidoff flagship stores in the US, Europe and Asia, starting June 2016. A
percentage of the proceeds from all special art editions will be dedicated to
sustaining the Davidoff Art Initiative.
