What Vermonter would not like to take a winter break in the Caribbean? Imagine sunshine, ocean breezes, balmy temps… But if you don’t have the time or resources to head south right now, the artwork of Pievy Polyte might provide a little solace. And you only have to go as far as the South Burlington Public Library.
“From Haiti to Vermont,” Polyte’s current exhibition in the hallway gallery, isn’t just a vicarious pleasure. In more than 20 color-drenched paintings, he expertly serves up landscapes and narrative scenes depicting his native land. And if the island’s distinctive folk style is evident, Polyte makes it his own. His rendering of the peopled coastal image titled “Southern Peninsula of Haiti” recalls the post-impressionist naïf imagery of French artist Henri Rousseau (1844-1910). On a spit of land dotted with pastel-hued shacks, residents work in gardens, play and gather at the edge of a wave-speckled sea. The picture plane is flattened, even as palm trees and bumpy terrain rise to meet a turbulent sky.
A frequent subject for the artist is the marketplace. One iteration in this exhibit, “Farmer’s Market in My Way,” crowds into the picture a dozen individuals — most of them women transporting boxes or baskets on their scarf-covered heads. The figures are dark-skinned and clad in bright colors; most sport large hoop earrings. Polyte has pictured them in silhouette against a featureless gray background.
There’s nothing ha-ha funny about the painting he titled “Funny Farmer’s Market” — brilliant is more like it. The image includes four people — two couples facing each other — again as silhouettes. But their arms and legs look like brown sticks caught up in a pile of fruits that, like the clothing, are all painted lime green. Only Polyte’s masterful shadowing gives them shape and dimension. The swoop of the women’s hats and angular bodies contrast with the plump fruits in a composition that owes more to 20th-century cubism than contemporary folk art. Polyte’s skill is decidedly not “primitive.”
He’s also not only an artist. Polyte, who grew up on a coffee farm, is the founder of a coffee cooperative called Peak Macaya, which is a beneficiary of profits from his art sales. Polyte also launched two schools in Haiti that emphasize environmental education. In an artist statement, he describes his other “hats” as agronomist, chef and teacher.
Since moving to Burlington, Polyte has been wildly productive and seems to exhibit constantly — more of his paintings are currently displayed at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport. It would not be a surprise if he’s dreaming of a Caribbean reprieve himself.
Pievy Polyte, “From Haiti to Vermont,” on view through March 13 at the South Burlington Public Library Gallery. A closing reception is to be announced.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Artist Pievy Polyte Whisks Vermont Viewers to Haiti”
This article appears in Jan 24-30, 2024.
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