Leonard Daley (born ca. 1930s- died 2006 in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica) is the trickster mystic of the Jamaican self-taught artists (called the Intuitives in Jamaica).  Rastafarian by inclination and experience, his work, at once naked and revealing nothing, is some of the most complex in Jamaica.

I think of Daley’s paintings in the same frame of reference as Dub music, once restricted to reggae in Jamaica, now globally used from reggae to jazz.  The basis of this music, begun in Lee Perry’s Black Ark music studio, is the removal of the narrative melody line to reveal the intricate interplay of the percussion, bass, and rhythm guitar.  Effects are added by the dubbing DJ or producer consisting often of echo, repetition, fadeouts and ins, and deep reverb.  Another important dub technique is the sudden removal of elements to create aural holes and spaces in the fabric and weave of the music.  Often samples of sounds and other music are collaged in as well. In Jamaica, dub reggae picks up many layers of meaning when the rhythms have Revival or Rastafarian resonances.

By removing the obvious narratives in his paintings Daley encouraged us to see some of the deeper movements in the art mixed with the visual wordplay of his fast-moving, cagey mind.  His personal connections between the multiple events are de-emphasized yet still serve as reference points, such as when he used the vulture (John Crow bird) as an autobiographical indicator.  Some of the characters, like this bird, and a bull that once threatened his life, do reoccur painting to painting. 

In his artmaking Daley was laying out the situations--personal and social, spiritual, political--that were often both real and symbolic at the same time.  He wanted to involve the viewer’s participation in the outcome. He, in an almost Afro-Futurist  manner, telescoped the details of time so that he showed past, present and future as simultaneous.  This is a trait of Rasta reasonings as well.  “Reasonings” are a free-form forum when the brethren and sistren discuss events, prophecies and philosophies.  For this reason, the paintings also often have an accretional aspect, as Daley may overpaint and add elements at various times.  The rhythm of the painting is ongoing; it is the perceptions of the viewers that change and morph.