Acclaimed international artist Professor Bryan McFarlane, who was born in Moore Town, Portland, is scheduled to open an exhibition of more than 40 of his work, inspired by his worldwide travel, at Olympia Art Centre on Thursday at 6:00 pm.

The exhibition titled ‘Fragments of Time II’ is McFarlane’s first solo showing in Jamaica in 14 years, and will reflect work created over 40 years from his studios in Kingston, Boston and Beijing. The large-scale works, many of which have been shipped from his studio in Beijing, will be mounted on two levels of the gallery.

“The Olympia Gallery is exceptionally honoured to present this milestone exhibition which Bryan has dedicated to his recently deceased grand-uncle, the esteemed former Maroon leader Colonel LG Harris, and his Shanghai-born wife Qian Ho,” Olympia Gallery owner Rosemary Thwaites is quoted in a news release.

At the opening, brief remarks will be presented by three speakers regarding the cultural bridges McFarlane has built through his art, study and lectures between Jamaica, China and the US. They are Dr Edmund Barry Gaither, director and senior curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston; Tom Tavares-Finson, chairman of the National Gallery of Jamaica; and Wenxu Yang, deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Jamaica.

McFarlane, who began his career at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, is an Institute of Jamaica Silver Musgrave Medallist for his contribution to arts and art education. He is a tenured professor of painting and drawing at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, where he currently teaches graduate and undergraduate programmes and leads art student groups to Jamaica, France and China.

He has held visiting professorships at the UWI, Rhode Island School of Design, and School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

McFarlane’s 10-year sojourn in China, painting, lecturing and exhibiting, included his being awarded a 2008 Olympic Fine Arts gold medal along with his Jamaican colleague artist, Peter Wayne Lewis. His fascination with Chinese history, landscape and culture informs his art with titles such as ‘ Beijing Oper’a and ‘ Silk Road Entanglement‘ and confirms his dedication to building a cultural bridge between China and Jamaica,while incorporating his Maroon heritage.

Fragments of Time II will open to the public for viewing from Friday, March, 16 through April 28, 2018, Tuesdays to Saturdays.