“This is one of the scarier rooms in terms of interaction potential with the public, and don’t forget to count the tiny pineapple containers, or check the small cruise ships on top of the frames.”
The gallery attendant didn’t add “precariously placed,” when speaking to a colleague, but he may as well have done, because when larger crowds are present, the staff overseeing “Caribbean Matters” are going to be overcome by this threat of “interaction potential” between people and the work. But—and what a “but” it is—in the repeated quiet moments these attendants have alone with the installations, the sheer depth of detail, references and featured themes of Pablo Delano’s “assemblage and sculpture” will likely make it one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives.
“Caribbean Matters” at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is art of singular ambition, at once devastating and affirming, horrific and edifying. Truthfully, it soars with ambition above standard notions of art. Yes, it’s in a gallery space; yes, it employs a visual language. But those are simply the entry points to engagement—because this is a show that addresses history, heritage and humanity, with a focus on the Caribbean but which extrapolates related narratives and makes them resonate as one of the essential stories of our times. Delano’s work is nothing less than a seminal literary text—here lies Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth” and “The Dragon Can’t Dance” by Earl Lovelace. This is an exhibition that would generate global affront in any right-thinking world.
Image credit: Pablo Delano, “Colonial Debt / Deuda Colonial,” 2024-2025, found objects on display table, variable dimensions, on 4 × 6 × 28.5 in. table/Photo: Chazen Museum of Art