Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Thegenus, Phederbe |
Nationality |
Haitian |
Dates & Places of Birth and Death |
b. Haiti, moved to the Dominican Republic in 1986 |
Notes |
Phederbe Thegenus, produces both his own work and work for the tourist market. He felt frustrated in his own personal ambitions as a painter and had to supplement his earnings with tourist paintings. (from an article by Independent Curators International, by Leah Gordon, Andre Eugene, January 18, 2016.) Phederbe left Haiti in 1986 mainly because he felt he could train to be an artist in the Dominican Republic. He knew someone who would be his teacher, whereas he felt that he had no future to train in Haiti. Phederbe stated that earlier on it was a good life painting and selling work to the tourists but the marketing strategy has changed now. He blames packaged tours, meaning that the visitors have less money in their pockets when they look around the streets, and the hotels and resorts control what they buy and where they buy it, so now Phederbe is finding life a lot more difficult. He has his own aesthetic that he showed us: very complex and richly detailed pictures of birds and vegetation, but he sells these paintings to clients in New York which have Haitian art galleries in Brooklyn. He says that he hasn’t sold work in the Dominican Republic for over seven years, and the only works sold in town are copyist and derivative. Phederbe said though he can support his whole family from sales in NYC and Spain. |
