PirateQ 
In the 1930s, New York artist, explorer and adventurer Rockwell Kent sailed to Greenland and lived there for several years, documenting the majestic landscape and the strong, industrious Inuit people who lived there.
In 2016, New York artist Denis Defibaugh spent more than a year in Greenland, visiting the same coastal communities that Kent did more than 80 years earlier.
Defibaugh’s celebrated photographic exhibition of the journey, “North by Nuuk: Greenland After Rockwell Kent,” is now on display in the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts on Pensacola State College’s Pensacola campus.
The exhibition runs through March 10. An artist lecture and reception were held on Jan. 26.
The exhibition features dozens of stunning photographs of the stark, frozen coastal communities on Greenland’s western coast.
“It’s the people who make Greenland,’’ Defibaugh said. “The environment is one thing, but it was important to have people in (the photographs). It adds to the history of it. People know about the environment of Greenland, but don’t know anything about the people.”
Defibaugh’s journey was funded through a National Science Foundation grant, which traditionally are not awarded to artists.
“With a blend of historical and contemporary, ‘North by Nuuk: Greenland After Rockwell Kent’ is an excellent learning opportunity for our students and community,’’ said PSC Gallery Coordinator Chelsea Weaver.
“Through the use of strong and captivating narratives, the exhibition provides unique and engaging documentation of Greenlanders, taking viewers on a journey alongside Mr. Defibaugh in experiencing the culture, tradition and environment of the Inuit.”
Defibaugh’s Greenland journey is also documented and preserved in the book “North by Nuuk,” published by RIT Press.
Defibaugh was inspired by Kent’s photography, art and essays and visited and documented the same communities as Kent – Illorsuit, Uummannaq, Sisimiut and Nuuk, the latter being Greenland’s capital.
“He loved the dynamic and the dramatic,’’ Defibaugh said of Kent. “He was a huge inspiration.”
The exhibit is open to the public in the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts. Hours are 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday.
