Local realist painter Anthony Boos has unveiled a collection of his latest paintings at an exhibition he hopes will attract discerning art lovers and collectors.
Boos, who lives in Trincity, discovered his natural artistic ability at a young age and was always intrigued by the legendary works of Renaissance artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. By age ten, he had already set his artistic focus on iconography–the symbolic and largely conventional representation of particular subject. At the time, Boos had a fixation with images of Jesus Christ, particularly his crucifixion. As a young man, he also helped his father Sydney Boos with the construction and presentation of Carnival floats in the 1950s.
Boos, 65, was born with a condition called Syndactyly which is a congenital malformation that causes fingers and toes to have a webbed or fused appearance. In Boos' case, the condition caused his fingers to be conjoined and shortened. In a telephone interview on Friday, the outspoken artist said even after corrective surgery, the condition continued to have a notable effect on his career paths and personal choices.
"People's eyes are attracted to my hands," he said. "They see my hands and become completely transfixed."
The attention his hands received caused Boos to spend his younger years as a "shy fella" who had grown accustomed to being stigmatised and bypassed.
In spite of this condition and the insecurities which accompanied it, Boos managed to find success in multiple artistic careers including painting, sculpting, design, advertising and even facial restoration.
He holds a degree in commercial art and design from an affiliate of Bristol University in England and has received training at the Madame Tussauds London wax museum. Apart from this, he has applied his artistic skill to the field of advertising in companies such as Aleong & Agostini Advertising as well as Lonsdale Saachi & Saachi. He later took a step back from commercial art and in 1974 graduated with a degree in Mortuary Science and Embalming from an affiliate of the University of Cincinnati.
Asked more about this unusual choice of study, Boos said he saw facial restoration and cosmetology as art. "Through facial restoration, my artistry was able to come out. To take an emaciated person and put them back the way they were, that is art. It shows respect for the body and it really does a lot for the bereaved."
From 1974 to 1978, he managed Clark & Battoo's Funeral Directors and Embalmers in San Fernando and was involved in the embalming of deceased prominent locals such as Jean Miles and George Bailey. In more recent years he has been involved in mas design with well-known masmen such as Peter Minshall, Wayne Berkeley, Edmund Hart, Brian Mac Farlane and Raoul Garib.
He has since returned to art full-time, focusing mainly on portraits of people and pets, book illustrations, cultural pieces as well as paintings of buildings.
He has retired and now does commissioned art pieces.
"I tend to avoid commonly done landscapes and works of an abstract or impressionistic nature," he said. "My style is forever seeking to be as realistically detailed as possible." One of Boos' pieces titled Going Home is displayed on the northern side of the Queen's Park Oval near Serpentine Road. It depicts the Scarlet Ibis flying in the Caroni Swamp.
The exhibition, which opened last Friday, features 42 acrylic pieces that he painted between 2010 and now.
One of the stand-out paintings in the collection is one titled Dead Canopy. He said the painting had a "frightening look" and was inspired by the image of dark tree tunnels.
Boos' exhibit continues until April 29 at the Trinidad Union Club on Floor 22 of the Nicholas Towers in Port-of-Spain. While he wants to sell as many paintings as possible, he also hopes the exhibit will build his reputation as a local artist.
�2 For more information:
640-8644 or e-mail
anthonyboos@hotmail.com