CERLAC is Co-Sponsoring: Contemporary Art from Guyana and the legacy of Denis Williams

Please join The Goldfarb Gallery for a conversation about modern and contemporary art from Guyana and its diaspora. This event, inspired by ongoing research led by The Goldfarb Gallery Curator Felicia Mings, is on the seminal work of Guyanese artist, anthropologist, and novelist Denis Williams, 1923–98. Born and raised in Guyana. Williams’ lived and worked across the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. He was one of the first Black artists to achieve critical acclaim in London, UK, in the early 1950s. Williams’ also took a proactive role in helping to shape arts and culture policy in Guyana. Following the country’s independence from British colonial rule, Williams’ founded institutions such as the E. R. Burrowes School of Art, 1975.

To reflect on Williams’ legacy, we have invited celebrated multidisciplinary artist Sandra Brewster and distinguished curator of Guyana’s National Art Gallery Ohene Koama to present on their individual practices, speaking to the field of Caribbean art. Following their presentations will be a moderated conversation with Mings considering the impact of Williams’ work on art in Guyana and among its diasporas today. Williams set the template for the transnational peripatetic artist we see today, as he developed an artistic practice that unfurled in dialogue with numerous cultural figures including art historian Ulli Beier, 1922–2011, known for founding the literary magazine Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature; British painter and critic Wyndham Lewis, 1882–1957; and revered Mozambican painter and poet Malangatana Ngwenya, 1936–2011. This conversation works to connect past and present artistic practices, bridging historical legacies with contemporary perspectives.

This event is funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and presented in partnership with the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) at York University.

Sandra Brewster is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto. Born to Guyanese parents, her practice explores themes of identity, Caribbean migration, memory, and movement through media that includes drawing, video, photo-based works, and installation. Brewster’s artwork has been widely exhibited in Canada and internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. A few of her most recent exhibitions include Fortitude/Fragile, Onsite Gallery, 2025; Precarious Joys, Toronto Biennial of Art, 2024; How to Not be Seen, Remai Modern, 2024; and Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2023–24.Ohene Koama is the curator at the National Gallery of Guyana, Castellani House. He has long held leadership positions in arts and culture in Guyana. In addition to his curatorial role, Koama is currently an Advisory Board Member of The Art Appraisal and Standards Board of the Guianas which promotes awareness and education about the visual arts from Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. Koama is also a founding member of the Guyana United Artist Group.

Felicia Mings is a curator at The Goldfarb Gallery. She focuses on interpreting and presenting modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on arts of Africa and the Caribbean, along with their diasporas. Mings’ recent curatorial projects include the Toronto iteration of Charles Campbell: An Ocean to Livity, 2025; Maryam Taghavi: Unfolding Worlds, 2025; Dele Adeyemo’s From Longhouse to Highrise: The Course of Empire, 2023; and Meleko Mokgosi: Imaging Imaginations, 2023.