JAMAICA’S newest creative space Art Zone will open today, November 5, with an inaugural exhibition at 22 Barbican Road in St Andrew. The one-day exhibition will start at 10:00 am and run until 5:00 pm.

A colourful blend of the young and the mature will be on show and will be headlined by 30-year painter and wood carver Ewan McAnuff and is set to feature a dynamic pool of 10 visual artists.

Among the young talent is Desanna Watson and Winroy Messam. A promising mixed-media artist, Watson’s oversized artworks tease with touchy topics that are sure to leave an impression. One of the newest faces from the Studio Mortimer stables, Winroy Messam will bring a fresh approach to sketching, one that patrons will find refreshing as they take in the lush greenery of the Pauline Stuart-owned, Portland-inspired Art Zone.

Also in the line-up is the mother-daughter duo of Denise Francis-Robinson and Atira Robinson, both of whom specialise in painting. One from a disappearing slate of expert tutors of sketch, Francis-Robinson who is a former principal dancer with the National Dance Theatre Company, is known for her whimsical and spiritual semi-abstracts. With a style that bears hints of her mother’s influence, Atira’s art extends to illustrations as well as face and body art.

Rounding out the show’s line-up is Errol McKenzie, Richard Smith, Jack Stuart, Talbert Taylor, and visual arts educator Sana Rose, who returns to the exhibition scene after a decade away, part of which she spent as visual arts coordinator with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.