During May and June the George Adams Gallery will show paintings, drawings and a construction by Jose Bedia. The exhibition features selected works from Rodeado de Mar / Surrounded by the Sea, a thematic survey of Bedia's work organized by the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach. This exhibition, accompanied by a site-specific installation, will travel to the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro later this summer.
The focus of the current exhibition is on Bedia's images of ships, and it includes five large paintings accompanied by pen and ink studies, three finished drawings, and a construction. The highlight of the exhibition is a series of three large-scale paintings of warships painted in 2000, the largest of which, at 15 foot long, ...Y Ahora(...And Now), depicts a capsized aircraft carrier. The other two paintings in the series are El Principe an image of a battle cruiser in flames, and Lo Que Hace Falta (Things I Could Use), a dramatic rendering of the bow of an aircraft carrier seen from sea level. The two other paintings in the exhibition, also painted in 2000, are Isla Vapor... (Island Adrift), a representation of Cuba as an oil tanker adrift at sea, and Solo Kalunga (Alone with the Goddess of the Sea), a 9 foot high painting of a kayak whose shape suggests a giant teardrop.
There is also a large amate drawing of a kayak and a mermaid from 2000 titled Mi Desayuno en el Aire (Nourishment in the Open Air), two new drawings of warships, and a construction, Para un Cubanito Viajero (A Little Cuba for the Traveler), 1997. Inspired by boxes carried by Sioux medicine men, Bedia's box contains all the essential elements of Cuba's principal religions as well as, mounted on the inside of the lid, a row of santos lined up on the deck of a miniature carved freighter.
Exhibition Checklist
1. El Principe escorado a estribor, 2000
(The El Principe - Lists to Starboard)
acrylic on canvas
71 x 93 1/2 inches
JoBp 84
2. Y ahora..., 2000
( And now...)
acrylic on canvas
72 x 164 inches
JoBp 92
3....Lo que hace falta, 2000
(...Things I Could Use)
acrylic on canvas
72 x 132 inches
JoBp 86
4. Drawing for 'Y Ahora...', 2000
ink on paper
13 x 11 inches
JoBd 138
5. Nada que esperar..., 2000
ink on paper
13 x 11 inches
JoBd 140
6. Drawing for 'Lo Que Hace...' , 2000
ink on paper
13 x 11 inches
JoBd 137
7. Mi desayuno de aire quiero, 2000
(Nourishment from the Fresh Air)
conte crayon on amate paper
46 3/4 x 94 inches
JoBd 134
8. Solo Kalunga, 2000
(Alone with the Goddess of the Sea)
acrylic on canvas
111 x 71 1/2 inches
JoBp 93
9. Isla Vapor..., 2000
(Island Ship Adrift)
acrylic on canvas
70 1/2 x 116 inches
JoBp 94
10. El "Reina Mercedes" hundida frente..., 2001
pencil, charcoal and acrylic on paper
38 x 49 1/42inches
JoBd 142
11. Rodeado de Mar, 2000
(Surrounded by the Sea)
gold ink on black paper
11 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches
JoBd 136
12. Y asi anda todavia escorado como vez, 2001
pencil, charcoal and acrylic on paper
38 x 49 1/2 inches
JoBd 141
13. Errónea Artesania, 1997
(Erroneous craftsmanship)
metallic ink on black paper
16 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches
JoBd 127
