Mallica (Kapo) Reynolds - Revivalist, sculptor and painter, St. Catherine, Jamaica [circa 1976]

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Mallica ‘KAPO’ Reynolds - (1911-1989)

Mallica (Kapo) Reynolds - Revivalist, sculptor and painter, St. Catherine, Jamaica [circa 1976]

Image from the National Library of Jamaica Photograph Collection (Tony Russell Collection) Permission to reproduce this image must be obtained from the National Library of Jamaica
Photograph Credit Tony Russell

Further information - Biography

Mallica ‘KAPO’ Reynolds - (1911-1989)

Mallica Reynolds was born on February 10, 1911 in the district of Byndloss, St. Catherine. His career as an artist began in the 1930s. ‘Kapo’ as he was more popularly called, was a self-taught artist. He was more popularly known for his painting but he was also a sculptor. Kapo, along with the late Sidney McLaren and Brother Everald Brown, led the group of artists referred to as the ‘Intuitives’. This group of artists tried to capture on canvas or in wood, the spirit or living forces behind objects and situations.
Kapo’s works have been exhibited widely both at home and abroad. He has held exhibitions in New York in 1953, 1969 and 1982; Los Angeles 1964 and 1968; and in Washington D.C. in 1972. His works form a part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery.
In 1981, Kapo’s painting “Shining Spring” was chosen as a wedding gift to Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer from the Government and people of Jamaica. “Shining Spring” was selected by the Institute of Jamaica, along with the Office of the Prime Minister because it was felt to be representative of true Jamaican art. Besides being an artist, Kapo was a deeply religious man. He was an ordained Bishop of a revivalist sect. He was patriarch and founder of the St. Michael’s Revival Tabernacle. Some of his earlier works carry religious themes. He was the recipient of many awards in Jamaica. These are as follows:
•1966 - Gold Medal from Emperor Haile Selassie during his visit to Jamaica that year;
•1969 - Silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica
•1977 - Awarded the Order of Distinction by the Government of Jamaica
•1985 - The Norman Manley Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts
•1986 - Gold Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica

Kapo was married twice. He died on February 24, 1989 leaving widow, Sheila, and children.

LIST OF EXHIBITIONS
1959-Kapo, Juster Galleries, New York, USA
1962-Kapo, Hills Galleries, Kingston, Jamaica
1968-Artists of the Western Hemisphere: Art of Haiti and Jamaica, Centre for American
Relations, New York, USA
1969-Kapo, Kingston and St. Andrew Public Library
1970-Kapo, Institute of Jamaica
1975-Kapo, Just Above Midtown Gallery, New York, USA
1978-Four Jamaican Primitives, Museum of Modern Art of Latin America,
Washington DC, USA
1979-The Intuitive Eye, National Gallery of Jamaica
1979-1989-Annual National Exhibition, National Gallery of Jamaica
1981-1982-Some Mother and Child Images in Jamaican Art, National Gallery of
Jamaica, Kingston
1982-1985-SITES: Jamaican Art 1922 – 1982, USA, Canada and Haiti
1986 -Jamaican Intuitive Commonwealth Institute, Wolverhampton Art
Gallery, England
1987-Fifteen Intuitives, National Gallery of Jamaica
1993-Carib Art, Contemporary Art of the Caribbean, UNESCO, Curacao

Sources:
Boxer, David and Poupeye-Rammerlaere, Veerle. Modern Jamaican Art. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers on behalf of the University of the West Indies Development and Endowment Fund, 1998.
National Library of Jamaica. Mallica 'Kapo' Reynolds (Biographies)
www.nlj.org.jm/biographies.htm#R

Taken on: November 22, 2018

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Kapo (Mallica Reynolds)

Reynolds, Mallica (Kapo)

St. Catherine, Jamaica

Sculpture - Jamaica

Artists - Jamaica

Fine art - Jamaica

Tony Russell - photographer - Jamaica

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