Exhibit Treal is coming fast at us…faster than a bright color leaking from an artist’s paint brush. It’s an initiative co-created by the Palm Beach-based visual artist, and art curator known as Jason “JaFleu” Fleurant, and it’s a movement that has urban creatives in the West Palm Beach/South Florida area connecting with one another, while sharing ideas. While it’s being promoted as a creative haven for visual artists, creatives of all passions have been looking towards it as an outlet to filter out promoting strategies, network with other creatives, and publicize their artistic and other endeavors.

So, Jason…Jasun…you’ve been up to so much lately. Let’s start off by discussing the last three paintings you worked on?
Now that’s surprisingly difficult these days. I’ve kinda of took a pretty extended break from painting the last few months to focus on what I’m doing now with Exhibit Treal. But the last three that really stick in my head was these large scale paintings. We’re talking seven feet each.

The first being “Oshun: The Orisha of Love. I just wanted to pay homage to the black goddess, and I used features I loved from various women I’ve dated to create her.

Then there’s “For My Negus with Daughters”, which was basically my ode to black fathers everywhere. Because for myself, I know a lot of men who are real fathers so I wanted to combat the images the we are often shown.

Lastly, there’s another painting, and it’s probably my favorite. [It’s called] “Graduated with Hiii Honors”. At the time, my [social media] timeline was flooded with photos of all these amazing women I knew graduating from colleges, and I wanted to show love to them.

I particularly enjoyed the process of making this one because I painted it outside on my
then-porch when I lived in an artist residency [facility]. We lived in what some call the hood, but to me it was just home. Everyone was cool and they loved to just come see me work. I’d just [leave my] art outside overnight and nothing ever happened to them. It would be more concern of the galleries trying to take it. The best part was seeing how inspiring it was for them all. That inspired me.

Kreyolicious: How did you new initiative Exhibit Treal come about?
I’ve been curating exhibits and art shows for a while. Again, taking it back to the artist residency where I lived. We just took advantage of the four walls of the apartment and them exhibits in there.

Kreyolicious: Catchy name by the way.
Thank you. For some reason, I couldn’t get Jay Electronica’s “Exhibit C” song out my head. And at this point, my friends and I were saying “treal” a lot ’cause we felt that was another level…something to aspire to. To always be truly real. And I just wanted to focus on exhibits that we felt was treal, so we started calling the shows that, and it stuck.

I wanted to use it as a vehicle to give opportunities for black artists in Palm Beach and further[more as a way] to always give back in some fashion. To me, that’s what’s treal…using the arts to be a factor and make a difference in the community. Things mentally I’ve always already believed and acted on. And the dope thing is other artists believe in it. Particularly Tracy Guiteau…the co-founder. She really just one day said, “I believe in this, and that it can be big.” So we just decided, “Let’s do this,” and here we are several shows later. It’s been crazy—a real blessing from God. We’ve got our motto “Be Safe. Keep what you Kill. Stay Treal”, but I think the thing that really explains our mentality is we say amongst ourselves a quote from the movie Juice: “No one man above the crew”. As long as we all move as a unit, nothing can stop us.

It’s also sort of an artist’s development. Tracy and myself have gotten a lot of knowledge over the years, so we help guide artists we work with best we can…while letting them be themselves and grow naturally.

Above: A JaFleur painting entitled “Graduated with Hiii Honors”.

Kreyolicious: What’s the art scene like in the Palm Beach area?
It’s a mixture of your typical art scene and it’s—I guess—slowly trying to emulate Wynwood in Miami. There’s been a lot of usage of art to gentrify black areas…And I personally just see Exhibit Treal as kind of the clap back to that. We’re just trying to show the Treal side of things while not getting caught up in the bs. I love where I’m from and there’s a lot of talent that needs to be appreciated, but not just visual arts. So, we work to push and promote black art in all ways.

Kreyolicious: What’s your advice to other visual artists…those just starting out?
You’re gonna laugh, but it’s simply to…be safe. Keep what you kill and stay Treal. Always be aware of the situations whether it’s dealing with galleries, collectors or anyone trying to just use you. Always make sure you get the best out of it. Go hard at all times. Leave it all on the floor. A lion doesn’t catch the gazelle to let it go. It keeps what it kills. Always go the extra mile for you and [do] not let anyone take you and your gifts for granted. And lastly, always do what you feel is best and true to who you are and give back. Even if it’s the smallest thing, ripples have long effects.

Kreyolicious: How do you make sure you’re staying on top of your game?
I’d say buy just not trying. I don’t view it as competition anymore. There is more than enough room for everyone. With Exhibit Treal, it’s just a focus on giving your best. I believe that’s what people respect and gravitate towards.

Kreyolicious: What’s next on the horizon?
Only God knows. We are working to put together a Haitian art exhibit among other things. We’ve just started our own book drive which will lead to a book fair and art show where adults are doing book reports. It’s exciting to see grown-ups hype about reading. We’ve things plan as far as youth projects we hope to get off the ground soon…It’s been kinda hectic, but beautiful. I feel I made the right choice backing away from creating art to be able to promote and push other artists. It’s a funny journey for me to sit back and reflect on now as to where we are and going. All praises to The Most High for keeping it treal!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE EXHIBIT TREAL BLOG. WANT TO HIRE JASON TO SPEAK AT YOUR EVENT, OR COMMISSION HIM FOR A PAINTING, OR ART PIECES? CONNECT WITH JAFLEU ON TWITTER|

You probably have worn a piece in the Caribbean Apparel line and not even know it. Or you may have seen someone or have had a friend who has donned one of the cultural slogan-laden jackets and shirts of the line. Truth is, the Caribbean Apparel is among the fastest growing brands among young folks and is especially popular with the urban market.

Legrand Gandhi Lindor, the man behind it, likes it that way. Born in Boston of Haitian parents, Lindor graduated with a Bachelors degree in Finance and Real Estate Investments/Development from The George Washington University before receiving his Juris Doctor and a Masters of Business Administration at the University of Connecticut.

At one point, he thought he could somehow combine his love of different cultures, and his knowledge of entrepreneurship, finance and business law and parlay all three fields into a business. Lindor truly wanted to form a company that would focus not on just one country, but many in a way to help create cohesion or at least an understanding of different cultures starting with the Caribbean islands.

But many new entrepreneurs dream about mixing all their passions together, and sometimes the results fall considerably below their expectations. Would this venture of Lindor’s work? Six years after it officially launched—Caribbean Apparel the company Lindor founded—still stands. From Grenada, to the Virgin Islands, to Barbados, and to the flagship Haiti collection, Caribbean Apparel helps consumers celebrate their identity and cultural self-expression.

Lindor discussed his entrepreneurial journey, the fashion business, and what comes next for his eponymous brand.

Q & A

Kreyolicious: When did it first occur to you that starting a company selling Caribbean-themed and Haiti-themed apparel would be profitable?
Well, ever since my undergraduate days my friends and I would go to the various West Indian Festivals —DC, Miami, New York, Boston—and we would spend our money on various things, apparel being one of them. That is when it first occurred to me that in the future we could make money selling higher quality apparel with more thought intensive designs. Being a business major I figured why not have fun and make money at the same time at these festivals. I finally put that into practice in my third year of my JD/MBA program when the opportunity arose. I put a plan together and sold shirts at the Annual National Haitian Student conference in 2007 which was hosted at Penn State University. I went to the event with about forty shirts or so and sold out in thirty-minutes. While I started with the t-shirts, the process of making jackets for Haiti was well under way which we debuted in the fall of 2007 with the Haiti Flag Jacket, Haiti 1804 Jacket and the Limited Edition white Haiti jacket for females and Blue Haiti jacket for men.

It was more about giving our people good quality clothing to wear not just during Kanaval—Carnival—but everyday and a way to express our cultures in ways that people may not know about: for example our Toussaint L’Ouverture shirt or our Haiti shirt which has Est. 1804—meaning established 1804 as some young Haitian-Americans don’t know the history of Haiti—but only what they see on television—which normally isn’t anything positive. So our whole motto, Unity. Culture. Pride. ™ is coming from a different angle—being all inclusive and high quality designs on high quality apparel. We love hearing stories from our customers about positive reactions that others give them when they are either wearing one of our jackets or shirts.

Kreyolicious: Caribbean Apparel™, a rather simple name we think. Was it difficult to come up with?
Not really. We first started as LGappareL®—with the LGL representing my initials. We then wanted to create a brand name that would be more descriptive of what we do and focus on right from reading or saying our brand name. It gets the point across and simply a hot concept that many people have caught onto in a rather short period of time.

Kreyolicious: You’ve been running Caribbean Apparel™ for years now. Do you have any advice and tips for someone who might be wanting to take up a similar venture?
The advice would be to love what you do and do it well. Things are not always easy and there are many more behind the scenes work that gets done that many people don’t see or realize because all they see is the end product. Also, don’t get discouraged. Learn from mistakes or failures to improve upon what you are doing and don’t let someone tell you that you cannot do something; use it as fuel for your fire within.

Kreyolicious: What are the daily going-ons of running Caribbean Apparel™? Are you the type that wakes up at 5 a.m. and goes home at 9 p.m.?
Daily, we are in thoughts of how to make more designs and countries. We are continuously contemplating new designs with our Creative Director and partnerships with others to expand our brand. Also, we are learning more and more about the apparel and printing industry. We have expanded our business to custom print and embroider for others, whether it be student groups, entertainment bands, family reunions, companies, etc. I am more of the type to wake up at 9 and go to bed at 3 a.m. [Smiles]

Kreyolicious: As you began running Caribbean Apparel™, what was the biggest challenge you faced as a shot-caller?
The biggest challenge of being a decision maker is to listen to others and their ideas and even if I may not personally feel it is the best look or what have you, it may make more business sense to go in that particular direction. We have so many ideas that the actual hardest thing is figuring which direction to go in next in terms of expanding our business.

Kreyolicious: You have so many selections. Do you have a bestseller?
Currently, our best seller is our L’Union Fait La Force and Nègre Maron design—Unity Makes Strength. I believe this is our greatest concept shirt and the Haitian motto is a powerful phrase and to combine with the Nègre Maron statue—which is a staple in Haiti and symbolized freedom and the power of working together—is a design that has resonated with all types of people, not just Haitians.

Kreyolicious: Does your company partake in any Haiti-related activities?
Caribbean Apparel™ is constantly working with various companies and organizations who help people help themselves. We like to work with organizations that focus on health and education, not just in Haiti but throughout the Caribbean. We have been invited and have attended many events for non-profits including fashion shows, fundraisers, etc. We have been invited by the Haitian Embassy in Washington, DC for a few events over the years, we have participated in a fashion showcase in Haiti. People can keep up to date with what we are involved with on our website, where we post on our blog events that we have
participated in or will participate. We have also help sponsor events as well.

Kreyolicious: What’s next for the line?
Next for us, is to create more countries and then to start our production in Haiti to create jobs. From there, our other goals and ambitions will come to fruition.

You can visit Caribbean Apparel’s website and view their selections here.