Jeremy Kraft in Search of Light

Sensitive to the world around him, Jeremy Kraft enjoys working with light, which he sees as a soothing element and a way to combat “all the darkness that reigns in the world today,” the artist explains. “The opposite of a black hole is creation—and a gravitational way of painting. I have known darkness. I prefer light. It’s easy to sink into darkness—I’m not sure I would have survived the darkness without light.”
This self-taught artist arrived in Saint Barthélemy as a child, and his memories inspire the slightly abstract landscapes that lead him to imagine what the island might have looked like before European settlers arrived on its shores. Beaches without houses, lagoons, and salt marshes in their natural state, but painted in an explosion of unexpected colors. “I like to exaggerate the colors,” explains Jérémy Kraft, who works in a unique style: he rotates his canvas as he paints, creating what he calls “an unknown destination.”
Currently living in Vermont, Jérémy is delighted to return to the island of his childhood for an exhibition opening Friday, March 13, at Les Artisans jewelry store in Gustavia, featuring a collection of seven new paintings.
Jeremy Kraft
Les Artisans, 8 G. de Gaulle Street, Gustavia
Opening reception: Friday, March 13, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.