This exhibition explores the connection between art and the field of mapping, the history of which stretches from ancient times to the present day. As a discipline rooted in scientific inquiry with wide-reaching social, political, and philosophical implications, cartography embodies a unique form of image making whose empirical objectives are seemingly far removed from the aesthetic priorities of fine art. Yet the similarities that unite these two material universes reveal the ways in which the cartographic and artistic realms delineate a common space of pictorial representation.

Much like the cartographer who surveys the

blank spaces of uncharted territory, the

artist can be seen to embark upon a similar

journey—evocatively transcribing the world

around them in all its complexity and myriad

detail. Taking this analogy as the departure

point for the exhibition’s interpretive framework,

81 Degrees West examines the work of a

select group of Caymanian artists who

utilise the iconography of maps and their material

traces as the basis for creative exploration.

Presenting antique and contemporary depictions

of the Cayman Islands and the wider

Caribbean alongside artworks that respond to,

or engage with, this evolving body of images,

this exhibition further highlights the

imaginative potential inherent within such

illustrative imagery. From the incorporation

of cartographic fragments to the creation of

fantastical works influenced by this material

landscape, the featured artists demonstrate

cartography’s enduring capacity to captivate and

inspire—summoning in the process a

universal language of visual expression.