NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Heriard-Cimino Gallery presents “Fragment of Journeys,” new work by José Bedia. The exhibition will be on view January 15 through March 3rd, 2010.
José Bedia is an exceptionally masterful and compelling artist whose visual narratives and iconic language are distilled to their essence. He approaches his subjects with the social awareness of an anthropologist. The universalism of Bedia’s work is derived from his effort at synthesizing, unifying and blending elements from the most diverse ancient, geographical, historical, and cultural horizons. Bedia says of his work - It is an attempt at communication and community between the material and spiritual universe of “modern” man and that of “primitive” man.
In Fragment of Journeys, Bedia paints powerful, animistic and metaphorical images, often utilizing Afro-Cuban deities. Throughout this new series, Bedia’s symbolic animal and human-animal figures are presented in narratives exploring the socio-political considerations and consequences of our societies. Bedia’s work remains provocative and profoundly beautiful.
Bedia was born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, studied at the Alejandro Fine Arts Academy and completed his advanced degree in Fine Arts specializing in Painting at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Bedia moved from Cuba in 1991, first living in Mexico for several years then on to Miami, Fl in 1993. Bedia has exhibited his work throughout the world in renowned museums, receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1994. His work is included in significant international private and public collections, in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Tate Gallery, London, The Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Fl, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela and Los Angeles County Museum of Art among many others. Bedia works and resides in Miami, Florida. This is Bedia’s first exhibition at Heriard-Cimino Gallery
