Night And Day-O Night And Day-O

A consummate painter and a former resident of The Bahamas, Dave Smith has been a keen observer of Bahamian art and society. Arriving in the archipelago when The Bahamas declared independence, he bore witness to societal transformations that included a shifting cultural focus from the UK to the US, the impact of the crack epidemic, and the country’s overreliance on tourism—in particular, the cruise ship industry—to sustain its economy. Night and Day-O is an epic painting that exemplifies the dichotomies of Bahamian life, offering depictions of pleasure and paradise for foreign consumption and local struggles, clichés of representation, hospitality, and violence.

A consummate painter and a former resident of The Bahamas, Dave Smith has been a keen observer of Bahamian art and society. Arriving in the archipelago when The Bahamas declared independence, he bore witness to societal transformations that included a shifting cultural focus from the UK to the US, the impact of the crack epidemic, and the country’s overreliance on tourism—in particular, the cruise ship industry—to sustain its economy. Night and Day-O is an epic painting that exemplifies the dichotomies of Bahamian life, offering depictions of pleasure and paradise for foreign consumption and local struggles, clichés of representation, hospitality, and violence.