Award-wining artist’s crucial message to the world

by Venessa Low A Chee

Artist Compton Babb’s “An Orphan’s Dream” recently won the Guyana Visual Arts and Craft Exhibition and Awards in the Drawing category for 2017. Via his award-winning drawing, the artist intends to create awareness about the needs of underprivileged youths.

Born in Georgetown on Oct. 25, 1981, Compton is the elder son of a sign artist, Compton Desmond Babb Sr., and his wife, Yvonne Jennifer Babb. Compton Sr., who is described as a “hardworking man”, raised his sons in a disciplined household. It was from this humble beginning that Compton Jr. learned lessons of punctuality and determination.
Compton displayed a remarkable talent for drawing at a very young age. By the time he was 16 years old, his portrait drawings and skill level had surpassed his father’s. It was his dream to advance in the arts and allow his raw talent to mature. His decision to pursue art, one he never regretted, allowed him to develop into a highly skilled and seasoned artist.
He then decided to attend Burrowes School of Art, which was where he realised his love for the arts. Compton worked with some of the best art tutors. At Burrowes he absorbed an acute attention for details and technicalities, subsequently refining his own visual and conceptual style, which has emerged through his work.

The artist embraces various art forms and contemporary styles. His work has been displayed in public and private art collections across Guyana.
Often thought of as a pensive person, Compton can be fondly described as an “affable, contended, calm and cool young man”. He enjoys the simple things in life and cherishes friendships and family.
“My drawings aren’t just pencil on paper, but emotions and life,” Compton said in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine.
Throughout his years, Compton has created a variety of art pieces for Guyana’s Venezuelan ambassador, the Ambassador of the United Nations, and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. He was also invited to display his work at the Burrowes School of Art 30th anniversary in 2005; at Carifesta IX in Trinidad in 2006; Carifesta X in Guyana in 2008, and shared the winning award for the 50th Independence Day logo (2015).
Explaining the message of “An Orphan’s Dream”, Compton said: “Most orphans would say that they want more than anything else to be rich and rise up in the world. So at least they could get away from being an orphan, but to one young orphan boy it is different. Going through childhood without his parents has allowed him to conceive a dream so expansive and thrilling that has taken over his heart and soul.
“The young lad longs to be like his hero, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a famous Guyanese cricketer. He looks on intently at each stroke of the bat, each catch of the ball, and the sheer joy and pride animated on the face of his hero. He tells himself that one day he too will stand before large crowds. He too will raise his bat in significance of hard work, glory, honour, satisfaction and love for the game that has stolen his heart and flooded his dreams since the first time he saw it on television. To a young orphan boy, dreams of cricket are his only escape to place filled with only bliss, admiration and freedom. Every orphan needs hope and a bright future, but unfortunately that’s not the case most times. I wanted to show and bring to life a heart and need of an orphan in this piece and to create awareness that they (orphans) still exist and their dreams can be met.”
In response to the winning artwork, Maureen Marks-Mendonca expressed: “… I got the opportunity to see many of the visual arts competition entries at the Castellani House exhibition, and while there were some really spectacular pieces… it was Compton Babb’s ‘An Orphan’s Dream’ that transfixed me… I glanced across the room in Castellani and it was the eyes that caught me – the longing in them, as he gazes at the poster of his cricket idol. Then I saw all the details – the kind that make you ‘fall into’ a drawing – and I was completely captivated. There’s so much magic in this work of art. A well-deserved win.”
For more info on the artist, email cbabbjnr@gmail.com or go to Compton Babb – Portrait Artist on Facebook.