Kendal Hanna

In 2015, Kendal Hanna was chosen to exhibit in New York City at the Volta Fair.

On June 25, 2011, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas honored Kendal Hanna with a retrospective titled ‘“Happy Birthday To Me’ Kendal Hanna: A Retrospective.” Formally known as the Villa Doyle, the 1860s colonial mansion was renovated in the 1990s and developed as a national museum and historical site where “history could be recognized, unpacked, and interpreted." It was timed to coincide with his 75th birthday and featured work that spanned his almost sixty-year career. With over 150 pieces of work present, Hanna's pieces encompassed classic nude studies, compelling abstract expressionist pieces and psychologically intense portraits.

In 2009, Kendal Hanna received the E. Clement Bethel Award from the College of the Bahamas for his significant contributions to Bahamian art.

Hanna rented multiple spaces and apartments around Nassau but it was not until 2007 where he found his permanent residence at PopopStudios, an independent artist run studio space and gallery. It was decidedly the best decision for him, a move Hanna called “perfect” that allowed him to produce and function comfortably being surrounded with fellow artists like himself.

Hanna still currently resides in Nassau, Bahamas and works from his studio at Popopstudios International Center of the Arts where he occupied since 2007.

In his early stages, his works were mostly figurative but he always had an experimental mind that ultimately was explored through Abstract Expressionism. While attending the Chelsea Pottery, he encountered more abstract pieces in the early 1990s in the form of ceramics and when asked by Charles Huggins whether the events influenced him, he replied: "It could have had some influence and did have some impact on me…(but) a lot has to do with the type of person I am. I believe I have an experimental mentality. I try to discover. Experiment and create something from an idea…I was in my twenties when I made the break…I have worked at it to develop it to the state it is today…”

During the late 1980s, Kendal Hanna suffered an extreme loss when his home was destroyed in a fire and subsequently lost everything, including his artworks. He later lived with his friends Basil and Gloria Cooper and used that as an opportunity to start anew his artistic practice. This led him to have his first solo exhibition at The Bahamian Art Gallery (BAG) in 1992.

In the 1970s, about ten years after his mother's death, Hanna began working at the McAlpine Company and eventually married Norma Samuels. After his wedding and honeymoon, Hanna took in a vacation to Eleuthera, Bahamas without his wife. In the end, he saw his marriage as unconventional, and the two later separated after some time.

He later studied Marine Biology for a time and then worked at the Nassau General Post Office as a postal clerk. There he met Davis Rawnsley, an artist and aspiring potter from London, who had convinced him to visit the famous Chelsea Pottery after learning about Hanna's dream to start an art career. Kendal would visit the Pottery during his work breaks and ultimately left the establishment to become one of the first Bahamian artists to work at the famous Chelsea Pottery. However, after the decline of the Pottery and the death of his mother in 1959, Hanna eventually resigned and went to pursue a career as a painter.

Kendal Hanna (born June 25, 1936) is a painter and sculptor who is known as one of The Bahamas’ first abstract expressionist. His works have been inspired by and compared to international artists and fellow abstractionists such as William de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman, Joan Miró and Mark Rothko.

Hanna was born on June 25, 1936 in Nassau, Bahamas. He was the oldest child to Leonard “Jakes” Johnson and Mable Hanna