Jonathan Guy Gladding created a series of paintings that addressed rising temperatures rising above preindustrial levels.
The title of the paintings "1.5˚C to Stay Alive" is referring to the maximum increase in temperature that can be tolerated without disastrous consequences for small island nations and other coastal areas. Gladding's paintings were featured at the
2015 Paris Climate Change Summit. The paintings depict the struggle for smaller Caribbean Islands and their efforts to keep greenhouse gas emissions at low enough levels, to not exceed the 1.5˚C temperature rise. The consequence of this rise in temperature will have a correlating impact on the many coastal communities, with an increase in seawater levels.
Artist Biography
"I had been painting and doing art all my life but it was in 1999 that my painting career truly began. I had just left my job as a computer artist/animator at Sesame Street in New York City to join the Peace Corps, where I hoped I could make a small contribution in some part of the world for two years and then return to my life in the US. I had the great fortune to be sent to the island of Saint Lucia where I would be serving as a woodwork instructor in the beautiful southern coastal village of Laborie. Without a television or other distractions and a commute that took me only 90 seconds instead of two hours, I suddenly had much more time on my hands so I took up painting again. In Laborie I found an unending supply of rich subject matter in the faces and postures of the uniformed school-children, the people going about their daily lives and the traditional cultural aspects that make St. Lucia such a wonderful and distinctive place. The pride in heritage and Kwéyòl culture combined with a sense of community and responsibility toward one another deeply impressed me and gave direction to my work. So with all these elements set in front of a landscape of vibrant greens, stunning blues, and warm browns, and illuminated by a quality of light I had never experienced before, I had found in Saint Lucia what artists have always traveled far and near to find - true inspiration.
I also found the most wonderful support and encouragement an artist could ever hope for. Although most of the people in Laborie did not grow up with a great deal of exposure to art, they showed an amazing amount of interest and enthusiasm for my depictions of their people, their homes, their culture, and their way of life. Various organizations in Laborie put on exhibitions of my work, commissioned murals, invited me to teach and give workshops, and allowed me to be involved in the community in countless ways.
Although I had been painting for years in a cubist style, I felt that realism was best suited to communicate in paint the feelings and ideas that I wanted to share. It is my desire to tell a story in details, whether itʼs about the warmth and spirit of the people of the Caribbean or something as simple as the way the reflected light colors the edge of a childʼs face. The Caribbean, like the rest of the world, is rapidly changing in many ways. It is important that with all the new innovations in life that the old traditions which are so rich and provide so much of the region’s identity, are not lost or forgotten. In my own small way, I hope to record some of that very special way of life in my paintings. Most of all what I hope to do is simply preserve the beautiful moments in life that are there every day but too often missed or taken for granted. In a harsh and difficult world, these are the things we must recognize and celebrate because they are what make life worth living.
While most inspired by what I see around me every day, I also find inspiration in the work of old masters like Jan Vermeer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Anders Zorn, and Joaquin Sorolla as well as illustrator Norman Rockwell, contemporary realist painters Stephen Scott Young, Mian Situ, and Richard Schmid, and the late Trinidadian artist Boscoe Holder.
What I thought would be a two-year interruption in my life has now turned into a new and deeply fulfilling life in the Caribbean for twenty years and counting. And rather than an interruption itʼs been pivotal for me both as a person and an artist. I now feel deeply rooted in the village of Laborie and very much a Caribbean person. It is my hope that I can convey the beauty of the Caribbean and its people and do my part in preserving what is so special about this part of the world and sharing that with others."
- Jonathan Guy Gladding
Education
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1988-1992 University of Massachusetts Junior/Senior Art
Awards, 1992 • Best in Show • Internal Jurors Award • External Jurors Award
Awards
• 2017 The National- Cape Cod Art Association Barnstable,
Massachusetts, July 2005 *Awarded First Place
• 2012 The National- Cape Cod Art Association Barnstable,
Massachusetts, July 2005 *Awarded First Place
• Best of America -2007 National Association of Oil and Acrylic Painters Society
Bolivar, Missouri, October 2007 * Awarded Signature Artist Status, Narrative Excellence Award
• Best of America -2006 National Association of Oil and Acrylic Painters Society
Bolivar, Missouri, November 2006 * Award of Excellence
• 2006 New England Exhibition- Cape Cod Art Association Barnstable,
Massachusetts, July 2005 *Awarded Second Place
• Best of America 2005- National Association of Oil and Acrylic Painters Society
Bolivar, Missouri, Awarded Windsor and Newton Award of Excellence
• 2005 New England Exhibition- Cape Cod Art Association Barnstable,
Massachusetts, July 2005 *Awarded First Place
• 2001 American Artist Annual Art Competition- Finalist
Exhibitions
One Man Shows:
• Recent Works - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad, April, 2019
• Oases - The Inner Gallery, Bois DʻOrange, St, Lucia, 2019
• Recent Works - The Inner Gallery, Bois DʻOrange, St, Lucia, 2014
• The Everyday and Ordinary - The Inner Gallery, Bois DʻOrange, St, Lucia, 2012
• Recent Works - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad, May, 2011
• Recent Works - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad, May, 2010
• Recent Works - The Inner Gallery, Bois DʻOrange, St, Lucia, March, 2009
• Caribbean Realism - The Tides Art Gallery, St. James, Barbados, November 2008
• Joie De Vivre - In2Art Ltd. Gallery, St. Annʼs, Trinidad, June, 2008
• Caribbean Realism - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad, August 2007
• Caribbean Realism- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia, February, 2007
• Goddesses and Queens- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia, February, 2005
• Recent Works- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia, March, 2004
• Recent Works- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia February, 2003
• Manmay-La -The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia July, 2003
• Kwéyòl Pentiwé- Alliance Francaise, Castries, St. Lucia, October 2002
• Images of Laborie- Labowi Promotions, Laborie, St. Lucia, December 2001
• Carnival and St. Lucian Culture- West India Art Company, Hyatt, St. Lucia, July, 2001
Group Shows:
• From St. Lucia - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad April, 2006
Gingerbread- Caribbean Artists Group Show Campbell’s of London, London, England, June 2004
• Lucian Vibes- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, May 2004
• National Emerging Artists- Savacou Gallery, New York, NY, July 2002
• National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, June 2002
• Small Works Christmas Show- West India Art Company, Pointe Seraphine, St. Lucia, December 2001
