Guyanese artist Hezron Henry on a mission to win Global Art Award

By Lakhram Bhagirat

It is no doubt that Guyanese are a talented bunch of people. Whether it is in the field of art, academia or sports, Guyanese will leave their indelible mark.
Staying true to the Guyanese spirit, Georgetown born artist Hezron Henry or HezronH as he is known in the art world, has been making his mark on the global art scene. His digital art piece, “Sovereign”, has been nominated for a Global Art Award in the Digital Category.

The Global Art Awards is scheduled for Tokyo in June. However, the preliminary stages of the competition have commenced with voting on the website. The entry with the most votes in each category will advance to be reviewed by a panel of judges consisting of some of the world’s most respected professionals, collectors, gallery owners, art critics, entrepreneurs and United Arab Emirates (UAE) High Society including members of the Middle East Art Collector Association.
The Global Art Awards harness the insights and talents of 8 judges each year. Each artist is competing for prizes amounting to over US$10,000 including their own exhibition at the Tokyo International Art Fair, gallery exhibition opportunities and professional consultations among others.

The 38-year-old Henry is currently a marketing executive in the Turks and Caicos. He moved there with his family back when he was just 13 years old.
“As a child, I spent much of my time drawing, at the time my mother was a nurse and I would wait for her to get off work sometimes or waiting to go to school. During this time someone recommended she enrol me in art school due to my love for it and potential they saw.
At this time we lived in Georgetown, my mum worked at the (Georgetown) Public Hospital. This was also during my formative years. I was enrolled for summer classes at E R Burrowes School of art and I attended every summer for approximately 5 years. Much of which I would have spent time with other young people twice my age due to my advance skill,” Henry told the Sunday Times during an interview.
For him, art has been and continues to be a medium through which he expresses himself.
His art, currently, focuses on portraiture and figurative art with much utilisation of faces as the focal point.
“I’ve been focusing on fine art in particular and illustration as well. Both areas I have employed traditional and contemporary mediums; acrylic on paper or canvas etc, digital painting and also a combination of both mediums. As an artist, my aim is to delve into the concept of identity via the depiction of figurative portrait art. The art explores facets of identity through the lens of colour, culture, individuality in society and the community as a whole,” he related.
Though he has dabbled in art his whole life, Henry only took it up professionally about 4 years ago when he began accepting commissions and invitations to participate in exhibitions both on his home island and the international scene.
Henry believes that our aura illuminates spaces of darkness and drives ideas through vision, endowing minds with fragments of personality shimmering through a kaleidoscope of colours. His work is an exploration of this, via illustration, acrylic and digital painting; adapting traditional painting mediums to his signature style. His art is laden with vibrant colours and a link is established highlighting the emotive power of colour.
He believes that it is most important that artists make no apologies for their work; his passion is an honest artistic expression, creating an experience people can enjoy and connect with on an ethereal level.
Surpassing over 2000 entrants worldwide as Wacom’s “The Next Level” winning artist, Hezron has exhibited in cities across Australia, New Zealand, and most recently Trinidad and Tobago; widening his ever-expanding boundaries.
“I have to say faces and personalities remain a constant inspiration in the concepts that revolve around me creating a piece of work. Much of what has become my signature style was born from reading comics as a child; particularly creations of Jack Kirby and the colour palette he employed in his illustrations,” he said.
Through the years, he has had many memorable experiences but his favourite remains the time he sold out his entire collection called “Crown” at the “Exclusive Evening of Art” Exhibition in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.
He was informed that he broke 2 records of the now 6-year major annual art event. His collections sold that night included 4 floor pieces and 1 auctioned piece. Within 10 mins of the doors opening, a buyer purchased the entire floor collection. The other record; no other artist had sold all of their pieces in one night.
Some of the places he’s exhibited or that have been featured include:
2020 – Drawn Vol 4: Leaders in Contemporary Illustration
2020 – Exclusive Evening of Art Exhibition, Group Show, Providenciales
2020 – Editorial Illustration, Turks and Caicos Magazine, Edition 23
2019 – Across Boundaries Exhibition, Group Show, Trinidad and Tobago National Museum
2019 – Apparel Collab, Konk
2018 – Fabric Prints, be?che? 2019 Collection
2017 – Feature, Wacom’s The Next Level 2017 Publication
2017 – The Next Level Exhibition, Group Show, Sydney
2017 – The Next Level Exhibition, Group Show, Melbourne
2017 – The Next Level Exhibition, Group Show, Auckland
2017 – Winner, Wacom The Next Level Competition
2017 – EP Cover, Maskanoo, Lady Livz
To vote for Henry visit https://www.theglobalartawards.com/vote-entries…and search “Sovereign”.