Exhibit Juxtaposes Work by Contemporary Artist, Past Haitian Artists
An exhibit that places artwork by contemporary Haitian artist Frantz Patrick Henry in dialogue with selections from Trinity College’s Edith A. Graham Collection of Haitian Art will soon be on display at the Hartford campus.
Echoes and Collisions is open to the public in the Widener Gallery from January 30 through April 30. Opening night will include a reception from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

For the exhibition, Henry explored Trinity’s significant holdings of Haitian art within the Graham Collection. These juxtapositions create new contexts for both Henry’s work and that of the Graham Collection. Echoes and Collisions invites viewers into a speculative space where the boundaries of time dissolve, and art becomes a bridge between histories and imagined futures.
“Selected works from the Edith A. Graham Collection of Haitian Art converge with my own creations, forming a dialogue that oscillates between harmony and dissonance, connection and collision,” said Henry. “Here, cultural narratives intertwine, but sometimes misalign, reflecting the complexity of navigating art across different timelines.”
The Edith A. Graham Collection of Haitian Art was donated to Trinity in 2008 by Graham’s children in honor of the long friendship between their mother and Leslie Desmangles, professor of religious studies and international studies, emeritus.
Born of Graham’s 40-year commitment to Haitian art, the collection includes over 300 objects. The paintings, sculptures, and ceremonial objects evoke a Haiti that exists beyond historical constraints—a Haiti reimagined, where traditions continue to evolve. Henry’s work engages with these legacies, at times echoing them, and at other times clashing, questioning, and reshaping them. The result is a dynamic tension, where past and present do not always seamlessly align, but instead create new, unexpected meanings.
“This exhibition pays tribute to Edith A. Graham’s legacy while embracing the unpredictability of cultural dialogue,” Henry said. “In this space, art becomes a force that collides, challenges, and ultimately expands our understanding of heritage and possibility.”
Sponsored by the Department of Fine Arts and the Center for Caribbean Studies, the exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Saturday 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., and by appointment.
About the Artist
Patrick F. Henry is an artist of Haitian origin who has been living in Montreal since 2011. He graduated from Université du Québec à Montréal in 2019. He received the McAbbie Foundation Sculpture Excellence Grant from the School of Visual and Media Arts (UQAM) for his installation titled Je suis nouveau ici (2020), The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and the Explore and Create Grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts for his September 2025 solo exhibition in Toronto, titled Am I a hero? After recently completing his MFA in sculpture at Yale school of Art, he is currently a fellow at NXTHVN, the art incubator lab in New Haven, Connecticut.
A multidisciplinary artist, Henry explores the theme of “becoming” through sculpture, painting and installation. By appropriating everyday objects diverted from their function, his works often unfold in the form of a site promoting relations with the viewer, which invites them to an experience of self-reconstruction.