I hope that the pleasure, fulfillment and the peace I received in the creation of this body of work, will somehow be experienced by those who view it. My works are almost seductive in their appeal, generating a soft clarion call to enter and partake.
I am Guy Kingsley Edward Beckles
Center piece, Queen’s Hall, Trinidad, 2011
Kinetic art is unique….. It engages you, eliciting a response, as it literally comes alive,…. And the man behind the magic is Guy Beckles, the only celebrated kinetic artist in the Caribbean.
He plays the part of an illusionist, but is undeniably a social constructivist. He probes the viewer who is moved to interpret, to critique. His is the artistic path of the “middle-way,” – a mélange of literalism, surrealism and the abstract. It’s an opus of work that moves the aficionado and mesmerizes the uninitiated
It’s a reflection of arduous patience – long hours of working and reworking – of visiting and revisiting – of assembling and dissembling. It can take hundreds of hours – months to get it right. This is the sin qua non of kinetic art. Its exactitude demands a peculiar personality and insight. It’s an oeuvre that blends the rigors of science with the imagination of a philosopher.
Dr Glenville Ashby. Syndicated columnist, award-winning author, qigong therapist. New York City
Contact Information
Achievements
Boynton Beach, Florida, 2016
Boynton Beach, Florida, 20162014
Harlem, USA, First artist to ever have three kinetic Exhibitions Running Concurrently2004 - Present
Full-time pursuit of Kinetic Art
2003
Retirement from teaching profession.
2001
Moved to VSC – Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, U.S.A
(Mar – Apr)
1989
Runner Up-Mural competition by Central Bank, Trinidad & Tobago
1988
Stage Design – Astor Cinema, Trinidad & Tobago – “Valentino and Friends”
1987
Winning Entry-TATIL’s (Trinidad & Tobago Insurance Ltd.) Inaugural Mural Competition
1984
Trinidad & Tobago, Art Society- Certificate of Excellence In The Field of Painting
1977
Art teacher at Secondary/High School in Trinidad & Tobago.
1977
Received B.A. Degree with a Major in Art From Dartmouth College, USA.
International Showcase and Credits
INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE:
BWIA – British West Indian Airways Ltd. Artist’s Interview and Works:
– Highlighted on In-Flight Video-Nov. 2000 – Jan. 2001
INTERNATIONAL CREDITS:
“The Art Collection” Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, published by Robert & Christopher Publishers, 2019
“Confounding Categories: The Global and the Local in the Process of a Caribbean Art” – by Philip Scher
Small Axe – A Journal of Criticism: The Art School – Editor: David Scott
“Searching for a Way Out” – by Christopher Cozier
GALERIE – The Art and Design Magazine of the Caribbean
– Editor: Geoffrey MacLean
“The Art of Trinidad and Tobago”-by Sastri Maraj
Visual Arts for Secondary Schools –Caribbean Educational Publishers
“Trinidad and Tobago Through the Eye of the Artist:from Cazabon to the Millennium” – Exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute, London, Oct. 28, ’97 – March 29, ’98. Published by Independence Cultural Committee for 35th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Trinidad &Tobago:Producer: Patrick Edwards, Trinidad & Tobago Deputy High Commissioner, London, England.