By Stephen Weir

It was a long time coming, but last week a full-page article about Hamilton artist Kareem-Anthony Ferreira was published by a major Toronto newspaper. Ferreira has a new show at the Towards Gallery in Toronto called Back Home, featuring four massive works inspired by Trinidad and Tobago. The exhibition is on display at their Sterling Road location near Bloor and Lansdowne.

Although Ferreira has achieved significant success across North America, discerning art buyers —LeBron James purchased one of his early large paintings and installed it in his Akron dining room—the Trinidadian-Canadian artist has largely flown under the radar of Canada’s mainstream media.

A first-generation Canadian with strong Trinidadian roots, Kareem-Anthony Ferreira is the son of renowned Hamilton artist and educator Roger Ferreira. Like father, like son, both artists often draw inspiration from the scenes and people of Trinidad and Tobago. Roger and his family left Trinidad and Tobago and moved to Hamilton in the late 1980s. Kareem-Anthony earned a BFA from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

“In my work, I trace patterns of personal, familial, and social identity within the genre of Black portraiture,” explains the young artist. “I offer visual recreations of identities, family traits, and events. Patterns are taken from commercial representations of the Caribbean and are meant to be easily recognizable, cliché, and at times, sarcastic.”

In late 2022, both father and son gained significant exposure among collectors and dealers with a show at the public Art Gallery of Hamilton. It was the first time The Caribbean Camera encountered the younger Ferreira’s work. We remarked back then that “these Caribbean-themed canvases are best described in David Rudder terms … they are Trini to the bone.”

Since that exhibition, Kareem-Anthony made a trip back to Trinidad and Tobago with his family, his first in nearly five years. Upon his return to Canada, he began work on a number of large-scale paintings based on his family’s travels.

The fruits of his labour—four large-scale paintings—form the Back Home exhibition that caught the eye of The Toronto Star. And what a great time for the Star to go Big. The show opened just as the rich and famous were arriving in Toronto for TIFF. There is big interest in the show, which will remain on display at the Towards Gallery until October 4.

Towards Gallery describes the paintings as being “richly layered… interweaving memory and materiality… referencing many of the flowers and fauna associated with the Caribbean.”

But Ferreira painted more than just the countryside. Many members of his family were with him in Trinidad, and they too are featured in his paintings, making this must-see exhibition true to its title, Back Home.