During February and March, the George Adams Gallery will show a survey of paintings and drawings by JOSE BEDIA. The exhibition will include seven paintings and four drawings made between 1992 and 2006.
Bedia, who came to the United States from Cuba in 1993, had his first solo exhibition in this country at the gallery in 1991. He continued to exhibit his paintings, drawings, carved objects and installations regularly at the gallery through 2001. This exhibition will survey the artist's works in various media and scales, and includes work from several of Bedia's most important series, including Mi Esencialismo and the dramatic Warship series.
The earliest work in the exhibition is a five-panel painting titled Del otro lado/From the Other Side (1992), painted just after he moved from Cuba to Mexico City. Llegada a Kunanbansa, a large canvas from 1993 also included in the show, is one the last works he completed before moving to the US with support from an international Guggenheim grant. In 1995, he began a series of paintings dealing with Yoruban and American Indian (Lakota Sioux) themes; titled Mi Esencialismo (My Essentialism), the series toured internationally before going on view at the gallery in New York in 1996. Two works from the series, Mato Paho/Bear Mountain and Initipi, both based on Lakota traditions, are included in the current exhibition. Later, in 2000, Bedia made a series of black and gray "warship" paintings that expressed his feelings of sorrow and helplessness following the tragic death of his wife. This exhibition features one of the most powerful, Lo que hace falta/The Things I Need, which depicts an aircraft carrier whose shape alludes to the Palo Monte orisha (god) Ogun.
Other works in the exhibition include a large early amate drawing, El senor de los pesces/Master of the Fish from 1993, a recent painting of the looming prow of an oil tanker ironically titled El futuro promisorio and two newly completed amate drawings reflecting on a recent trip to East Africa.
Checklist
1. Llegada a Kunanbansa/ Arrival at Kunanbansa
1993
Acrylic on panel
62 x 94 inches
JoBp 21
2. En el Tronco de un Arbol una Nina/ On the Trunk of A Tree, A Girl
1999
Acrylic on canvas
94 x 69 1/2 inches
JoBp 77
3. ...Lo que Hace Falta/ Things That I Need
2000
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 132 inches
JoBp 86
4. Mato Paha/ Bear Mountain, 1995
Acrylic on canvas
71 1/2 x 96 3/4 inches
JoBp 51
5. Un Futuro Promisorio/ A Promising Future
2005
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 69 1/4 inches
JoBp 109
6. Del Otro Lado/ From the Other Side
1992
Acrylic on canvas
5 panels 16 3/4 x 20 inches each
JoBp 108
Drawing Gallery:
7. Sabia Arana vs. Perro Viejo/ Wise Spider vs. An Old Dog
1997
Conte crayon on vellum
33 x 24 inches
JoBd 148
8. Confusion de Oso Hormiguero/ Confusion of the Ant Eater
2006
Ink, conte crayon on amate paper
47 1/4 x 94 1/4 inches
JoBd 149
9. Uteno Kasaye/ Angry Uteno
2006
Ink, conte crayon on amate paper
47 1/4 x 94 1/4 inches
JoBd 150
10. Initipi/ Teepee
1995
Acrylic on paper
38 1/4 x 49 3/4 inches
JoBd 76
11. Revancha del Senor de los Peces/ Revenge of The Master of the Fish
1993
Ink on amate paper
47 3/16 x 94 1/4 inches
JoBd 38
Reception Desk:
Alas que me dan Mis Enemigos/ Wings My Enemies Give Me
2001
Acrylic, conte on canvas
59 x 57 3/4 inches
JoBp 96
Front Window:
Mato Inyan
1995
Acrylic on canvas
71 1/2 x 73 inches
JoBp 54
