Jose Bedia

Jose Bedia is a celebrated Cuban artist who studied in Spain and brought his knowledge of European art back to Cuba. He’s had exhibitions in Italy, Cuba, Mexico, Germany, and the United States, as well as receiving three awards for his work, first Prize in the "Salón Paisaje’82", of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, Havana, Cuba, the Guggenheim Fellowship in New York City, and the Distinction for the National Culture, Cuban Council of State, Havana, Cuba. He’s an installation artist as well as a painter, and has been heavily feature in the United States all over the country. In fact, one of his pieces can be found at the National Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.

A lot of Bedia’s work involves incorporating constellations, in both his paintings and his installations. This is no surprise in terms of Caribbean motif, as the Pre-Columbian people are renowned for their astronomy and calendars, and how they interpreted their study of the skies into their art. In fact, ancient calendars are individual pieces of art, themselves. The concept of constellations and art is simple but powerful, essentially using the sky as an inspiration and a mental canvas.

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Bedia’s work primarily focuses on the celestial, however he includes small details of the terrain around him – cities, islands, and water. In these details he shows the skills he learned in Europe and in art school, showing off his attention to detail and his ability to paint. In terms of incorporating multiple realms in his work, he is very reflective of the Taino, the people who inhabited Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. They believed in three realms, the celestial realm, the earthly/terrain realm, and the underworld, and created artwork portraying the passing between these realms, both in the mythological sense, and what they saw as the literal sense (such as trees, which were rooted under the ground and reached into the skies). Bedia’s work strongly reflects his heritage in terms of ancient beliefs applied to modern art.

I admire Bedia’s artwork and find him inspiring because he takes ancient art and applies ancient beliefs in his artwork. His artwork is bold, and consistent, while also standing strong as individual pieces. He’s rooted not only in nature, but in his heritage and in the land where he came from. His piece in the National Sculpture Garden, To the Possible Limit, particularly stands out to me as a piece. It’s articulate and geometric while also having some organic qualities.

Mizota, Sharon. Art Review: Jose Bedia in Latin American Masters. The Los Angeles Times. 21 May 2010. Web. 10 August 2011.

<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/05/art-review-jose-bedia-at-latin-american-masters.html>.