Kingdom Of This World And Other Stories

Lyle O. Reitzel Gallery, founded in 1995, proudly announces Edouard Duval-Carrié's newest solo show titled “Kingdom of this World and Other Stories”. The opening will take place this Thursday, September 6th at the gallery’s Lower East Side location, from 6 - 9 PM.

This exhibition features a collection of Duval-Carrié’s recent works, often showcasing political and magical displays that embody the struggles and resilience of the Haitian people. There has been a robust debate concerning the concept of Magical Realism established with Alejo Carpentier’s wonderful novel “The Kingdom of this World “. Notwithstanding the various discourses and critical assessments of the concept and the novel, the artist revisited and illustrated in his fashion the content of the novel, which traces the life of young slave boy Ti Noel from his beginnings as page boy at the De Mezy Plantation in the Cap Français to his demise as unwanted gander within the ruins of Sans Souci.

His work, imbedded with Vodou deities and spirits along with portrayals of colonial and contemporary regimes, sheds light into the paradoxes of Haitian existence, as well the integrity of its ritual practices. In the essay “Tales of a Divided Island: Recent Paintings by Edouard Duval-Carrié” Edward J. Sullivan describes his works as a “Fitting gesture of both cultural rapprochement and reconsideration of the historical panorama that deeply affects the two nations that share this divided island of Hispaniola.”

Duval-Carrié was born in Puerto Principe in 1954 and, being a child, migrated with his family to Puerto Rico during Francois Duvalier dictatorship. He studied in Université de Montréal y McGill University (Canada) and Le Ècole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Paris, France). He lives and works in Miami since 1993, with a rising career, being one of the maximum exponents of Haitian art and culture. In 2016 Duval-Carrié was renowned with the "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" in France, and in 2015, he received the "USArtist Award" and participated in the exposition "Haiti" in the Grand Palais (Paris), and had a grand solo show for the PAMM Museum inauguration, in Miami, during Art Basel 2015. Duval-Carrié's art is in the permanent collection of Africa Museum, Netherlands, Frost Art Museum y el Lowe Art Museum , Miami, Florida, Musee des Art Africains et Oceanians, Paris. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico among others.