Henry Bermudez In Philadelphia

Henry Bermudez IN PHILADELPHIA

WoodmereArtMuseum

Henry Bermudez IN PHILADELPHIA Gaby Heit Guest Curator

CONTENTS

Foreword 2

by William R. Valerio

Philadelphia Phoenix: Henry Bermudez’s Rebirth Over Two Decades 4 Gaby Heit, guest curator

Everything Is Interrelated, Nothing Stands Alone: Henry Bermudez’s Journey to Philadelphia 20 Jorge Luis Gutierrez

Selected Chronology 32 Works in the Exhibition 38

February 17–May 19, 2024

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FOREWORD

Artists bring beauty into the world. It was the

But Bermudez’s work rises to a higher level

startling, organic beauty of Henry Bermudez’s work

still. He makes art that not only describes his

that struck me when I first encountered one of his

experience as a political refugee and immigrant,

colossally scaled paintings in the 2018 Woodmere

but also expresses the opulence and passion of

Annual, juried by Syd Carpenter. The vocabulary of

human sensuality and a delicacy in his over-the-

Bermudez’s paintings includes electric-colored plant

top decorative sensibility. In our studio visits and

forms, voluptuous ornamented creatures, glittery

conversations, I have come to understand that

expanses with opulent flowers, and sensuous figures

Bermudez’s work comes from a unique internal joy

framed in artificial fur. More is more, and the works

that has sustained him through tough times and

are thrilling. In 2022, Woodmere was honored to

victories alike. Whether his subjects are the clash

acquire Bermudez’s The RainMakers Dance (2018)

of Europe with the New World or the strivings

thanks to the generosity of our great friends Frances

of people against obstacles, or interpretations

and Robert Kohler.

of subjects like Mickey Mouse or Van Gogh’s

Artists also tell the stories that make us human, sharing the thoughts, emotions, and narratives that help us make sense of the ups and downs of our existence. Bermudez’s ongoing story, from one work to the next over the last twenty years, has been the drama of his journey as an immigrant from Venezuela to cities around the world and ultimately

Sunflowers, there is a spiritual, quasi-religious sensation of positivity that radiates from his canvases. Bermudez recognizes the imperfections of his adopted country and the frequent hardships of those who are displaced. He is also patriotic, and for him, America, as a country that guarantees freedom of expression, is a magnificent place to be.

to Philadelphia. Along the way he has continued to

My first words of thanks go to Henry Bermudez

build a new identity that links his Latin past and his

himself. This exhibition evolved out of a relationship

American present.

between the Museum and the artist that has

Bermudez’s story will resonate with many Philadelphians. Our city is one of the nation’s twenty-four Certified Welcoming Places, a designation that recognizes policies of inclusion.

As of this writing, fifteen percent of Philadelphia’s population—more than 850,000 individuals if we consider the broader five-county region—are immigrants. With immigration policy a leading subject in national politics and cultural debate, we could not have planned a more timely exhibition.

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grown deeper and more meaningful over time. Our understanding of Bermudez’s history and broader place in the spectrum of Latin American art comes from our partnership with Jorge Luis Gutierrez, a long-standing champion of Bermudez’s art who has placed his achievement within the global conversation of artists from Latin America. We also thank our guest curator, Gaby Heit, who organized every aspect of the show and, in particular, worked one-on-one with the artist to select works for

The RainMakers Dance, 2018 (Museum purchase with funds generously provided by Robert and Frances Kohler, 2022)

display that express the sweep of Bermudez’s two

As always, Woodmere depends on the generosity

decades in Philadelphia. Thank you, Jorge and Gaby,

of many individuals for the funds that sustain our

for your illuminating essays that are published in

activities. The Museum thanks our former trustee,

this catalogue.

the late Dorothy J. Del Bueno, for creating an

Bermudez is represented by the Wexler Gallery. The Museum is grateful to Sherri and Lewis Wexler for a partnership that has enriched so many aspects of the exhibition and its programs. As always, Woodmere’s staff approached this endeavor with enthusiasm, professionalism, and highest levels of creativity.

Thank you to our curatorial and education team, Laura Heemer, Rachel Hruszkewycz, Rick Ortwein, Hildy Tow, Lya Rodgers, and Amanda Monroe.

endowed fund to support our exhibitions. We also extend our gratitude to an anonymous donor, and importantly, we appreciate the generosity of our members, whose support is foundational to all we do. Thank you, everyone!

WILLIAM R. VALERIO, PHD The Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and Chief Executive Officer

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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PHILADELPHIA PHOENIX: HENRY BERMUDEZ’S REBIRTH OVER TWO DECADES GABY HEIT

Henry Bermudez’s work over the last twenty years

means to become an American, and the freedoms

is a journal of collected imagery and symbolic

and responsibilities that citizenship entails.

representation. Having built a highly successful career as an artist in his native Venezuela, he started over, as if from scratch, when he immigrated to the United States in 2003. As Bermudez describes it, he began to build “a new American life.” This exhibition and this essay explore how his creative practice has evolved with his changing life circumstances.

Through it all, his work has remained a visual expression of his internal engine of optimism; he embraces America with pride while also exploring the cultural representation of political power.

In Venezuela, Bermudez was a celebrated artist who, in 1986, represented his country in the 42nd Venice Biennale. Venezuela had once been one of the wealthiest in South America, but its democratic government collapsed under President Hugo Chávez and human rights abuses, corruption, anti-democratic actions, violence, and poverty quickly escalated. Many Venezuelans immediately fled when Chávez took office, the first of several mass migrations. Looking for a safe place to live, Bermudez initially moved to Miami, and then

One of the last paintings Bermudez completed

relocated to Philadelphia in 2003. Not knowing

before he left Venezuela in 2003, from the series

many people, or any English, he resorted to washing

The Eagle and the Sun (2003), is remarkably

dishes, and slept on a friend’s sofa. He had left

prescient. Within the work there are two sets of

everything behind, but persevered, confident that

relationships. At left, the sun (representing the

he could achieve the American dream.

artist himself) looks down on an eagle perched in a tree. At center the same sun and eagle appear again, but now they are intertwined with each other and with the plant life around them. We can interpret these as two states of being for the artist: one separate from the US, and the other, moving forward together with his new country to a new life. One way that Bermudez inserts himself into the narrative of his work is as the face of the sun, and it is important to note that these are bald eagles, a bird specifically symbolic of the US. The foreshadowing is remarkable: just months after he completed the painting, Bermudez left Venezuela to build a new life in the US. Since then, he has taken on the challenge of trying to understand what it

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Once settled in Philadelphia, Bermudez began to take part in the city’s thriving art scene. In 2004 he was commissioned by Mural Arts to create five murals in the city’s Latin American neighborhoods— the first income he received as a professional artist since his arrival in the US. Hanging Garden (2004) was a multi-artist collaboration with a tropical forest theme. One collaborator, Frank Hyder, was the friend who initially invited him to Philadelphia.

Bermudez also began to adapt his artistic practice to his new environment: lacking proper ventilation to paint with oils, he turned instead to acrylics and cut paper. And he began participating in juried exhibitions. A later mural, The Circle (2017), depicts a partitioned circle against a lace-like background,

From the series The Eagle and the Sun/De la serie el águila y el sol, 2003 (Courtesy of the artist)

a reference to the most famous of pre-Columbian

In a broad sense, Bermudez, like many Latin

images, the so-called Aztec calendar stone, from

American artists, points to the magical and mystical

the grand plaza of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).

in folklore. Inspiration from ancient religions and the occult, as well as complex views of Catholicism

ARTISTIC INFLUENCES

and Santería, are behind many of his messages. He emphatically repeats certain icons and creatures

The most significant throughline in Bermudez’s

in his paintings, reinforcing each work’s role as a

work in Venezuela and the US is his ongoing

microcosm of the larger story of his career. These

embrace of Latin American imagery. His extensive

recurring symbols include cats, horses, birds, and

travels in Mexico, Peru, and elsewhere have

snakes, as well as hybrid creatures from ancient

left a permanent imprint in his imagination. He

South American and Afro-Caribbean cultures, like

understands the shared symbols and mythologies

suns with faces, Quetzalcoatl (the Aztec feathered

from pre-Columbian cultures, like the Aztecs and

serpent deity), leopards shouting rainbows, and

Incas, are a rich source of imagery to re-evaluate

various anthropomorphic beings. As in some

and reclaim.

European cultures, Bermudez’s mythological “monsters” are generally a combination of different HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Gonzalez Sisters/Las hermanas Gonzalez, 2017 (Courtesy of the artist)

creatures’ strongest parts. Some are sacred, some

dreams. He often incorporates roses into his work

magical, all mythological, having deep personal

because they are widely recognized as a sign of

meaning for the artist.

love, connecting different cultures and languages.

Bermudez sometimes turns a negative symbol into

A major inspiration for Bermudez in Philadelphia has

something positive and vice versa. The omnipresent

been Black and African American culture. Prior to

Quetzalcoatl points to both heaven and earth. When

his American life, from 1965 to 1970, he worked as a

the deity encounters the cross in Resting Snake

teacher to Afro-Caribbean youth in Bobures, a small

(2007), it dies, conquered by European colonialism.

jungle village on the northern coast of Venezuela.

Bermudez also takes advantage of symbols having

He pays tribute to those students in works like

different meanings in different cultures, and how

Gonzalez Sisters (2017), where they appear lovingly

they evolve over time. Decoding the sequence of

enmeshed in their lush landscape, with a vase

symbols and images reveals additional meanings,

of roses. The art community in Philadelphia that

reflecting the artist’s past, present, and future

Bermudez has come to know is diverse in ways

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Resting Snake/ El reposo de la serpiente, 2007 (Courtesy of the artist) HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Miss America, 2019 (Courtesy of the artist)

he hadn’t previously imagined: without the rigid

about this image, the artist points to his students

social hierarchies of Venezuela, Black and Brown

in Bobures, his current pupils in Philadelphia’s

artists (like him) have a voice. “Bobures taught me

underserved communities, San Benito (the Black

about one sector of our culture that is little shown

saint of Bobures), and Kelicia Pitts, an African

in the big cities of Venezuela—it is the culture of

American model for many artists in Philadelphia

African descendants,” he says. By contrast, here in

and Bermudez’s local muse. Miss America is

Philadelphia, “It’s a great moment for artists of color,

especially important; she is the complete connector

and artists of other nationalities in America, from

woman, his past informing his future. In the painting,

Africa, Asia, and Latin America.”

she is flanked like a queen by jaguars, which reach

Bermudez is attuned to issues of social consciousness, while aspiring for progress and racial harmony. In Miss America (2019) he envisions the pageant winner as a Black woman in a red, white, and blue sparkling crown; hers is the largest visage in all of Bermudez’s work. When asked

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out to touch her, an expression of goodwill. With regard to an embrace of Black culture, Bermudez transforms and reappropriates a Philadelphia treasure, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, into his Black Sunflowers (2023), taking ownership of the white European artist’s work in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Black Sunflowers/Girasoles negros, 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

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ABOVE: Medusa, 2011 (Courtesy of the artist). RIGHT: Visitor VIII/La visitante VIII, 2011 (Courtesy of the artist)

Bermudez creates his own symbolic language

taken out of her surroundings, appearing out of

to include stories of European colonialism and

place in new environments, whether it is among

the American dream in his work. He is keenly

Black and Indigenous figures or lost in the abstract

aware that the American dream is entwined with

jungles of the so-called New World. In this sense

Western colonialism and that individual freedoms

of displacement, the Duchess is the antithesis

for Americans coexist with the erasure of freedom

of his later painting of the Black Miss America,

of those colonized by Americans. The symbols

who represents a synthesis, a center of gravity, or

Bermudez uses in these ways are borrowed,

coming together of history and geography. She

reappropriated, and in conflict. The Duchess is a

brings her culture with her. Bermudez’s Duchess, by

recurring figure in Bermudez’s work, based on Piero

contrast, usually floats above, often literally pasted

della Francesca’s iconic Portraits of the Duke and

on top, disconnected from the other elements of

Duchess of Urbino in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

the composition. She is an interrupter. Similarly,

Bermudez notes that Piero died in 1492, the year of

in What Mr. von Humboldt Saw When He Visited

Columbus’s voyage to America, and she appears

the Orinoco (2008), Bermudez tells the story of

for the first time in works from the early 2010s

Alexander von Humboldt from a Latin American

in his Visitor series (2010–11) and Medusa (2011);

point of view. Von Humboldt, a German explorer

series; the Duchess becomes his stand-in for the

and naturalist, documented the flora, fauna, and

famous explorer. In Piero’s depiction, the couple

native peoples of Venezuela on his expedition to

stare at each other in profile; they are as confident

South America authorized by the king of Spain.

in their relationship as they are in their dominion just beyond them, a view from their castle. For Bermudez, the single figure of the Duchess is 10

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NEW EXPERIMENTS AND NEW SYMBOLS

For Bermudez, the greatest change that came from working in Philadelphia is the freedom to experiment.

The style of representation he has developed is marked by undulating curves and repeating gestures, often suggesting scales, feathers, tentacles, and vegetation in one living mass. Relative to his previous modes, he perceives that he can push his forms harder and break the rules, so to speak, that he had previously tried to follow. His abstract drawings, mostly in. black and white, appear to be elaborate graphic designs based on organized lines and detail.

Freedom and evolution are also revealed in his adaptation of new materials, which have shifted from traditional oil painting to cut paper, to a liberal use of glitter, faux fur, plastic flowers, and wood carving. His cut paper works also start to move away from the wall, undulating and becoming more sculptural and adjustable. If previously, the painter who Bermudez acknowledged as his most important inspiration was the French renegade “primitivist” Henri Rousseau, he now embraces a broad range of inputs coming from many places.

Urban culture and his students continue to be important, but he also looks to the work of the

Bermudez considers The Heaven (2007) to be a

artists close by, including that of his wife Michelle

milestone of his career in Philadelphia, in which

Marcuse, a sculptor who assembles found and

he confidently scaled up in size, increased the

unconventional materials in dramatic three-

intensity of dot decoration, and started layering

dimensional compositions. He also admires the work

cut paper. The work presents floating figures and

of Barbara Bullock, the great master of cutting,

freeform ornamentation that suggest astrology

twisting, and sculpting paper in space.

and constellations. As he himself sees it, this new stylistic freedom is a release that runs parallel to growing more comfortable in his new environment.

In Philadelphia, Bermudez has not only experimented with new materials, but also has

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What Mr. von Humboldt Saw When He Visited the Orinoco/ Lo que von Humboldt vió cuando visitó el Orinoco, 2008 (Courtesy of the artist)

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The Heaven/El cielo, 2007 (Courtesy of the artist)

felt a deep freedom and obligation to exercise his

future. In Premonition of a Civil War (Venezuela),

political voice. In Venezuela, his paintings included

Bermudez expresses his alarm at that prospect. A

symbols in a quieter, less emotive language. Looking

partial figure with a vicious feline head breathes

back, Bermudez describes that his process and

flames in the colors of the Venezuelan flag (as if

thinking about subjects was more “expected.” His

it’s just been eaten) while stepping on the back of

Philadelphia works tell us more about a conflicted

a crouching headless figure who loosely holds a

artist, finding his place in American society and

small Venezuelan flag. It’s a dark painting, and far

expressing his freedom to criticize. Premonition

from the vibrant tones of Bermudez’s other work.

of a Civil War (Venezuela) of 2019 is a rare overt

The shape of the centerpiece arrangement, and the

statement on his homeland and reappropriation

accentuated negative space of the complicated

of Dalí’s nightmarish Soft Construction with Boiled

figures, replicate those in Dali’s painting. But

Beans (Premonition of Civil War) of 1936, painted

Bermudez’s figures are not defeated.

six months before the Spanish civil war began.

Dalí’s iconic work expresses the destruction and horrors of the Spanish conflict, considered a prelude to World War II. Comparatively, Venezuela is an extremely divided country, and has had tremendous unrest since the mid-nineteenth century. And some Venezuelans expect a civil war in the near

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Flags are important symbols in Bermudez’s work, and the American flag is used to different ends in different contexts. In Pledge of Allegiance (2018), for example, there are several flags next to faces of every color, suggesting pride in immigrant citizenship of all stripes. It reflects Bermudez’s personal journey and becoming an American citizen

Premonition of a Civil War (Venezuela)/Premonición de una guerra civil (Venezuela), 2019 (Courtesy of the artist)

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Pledge of Allegiance, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist)

in September 2013. And when the flag makes more

as a glittering symbol of American capitalism,

subtle appearances, in different sizes, positions,

commercialism, and entertainment, a mixed

and relationships to other elements in the overall

message on freedoms and priorities.

image, it becomes a more direct political statement.

Bermudez, in depicting the flag as a symbol, often makes it elusive and variable, but definitive

THE AMERICAN MYTH

presence. It slips out of the frame, half in or half

As complex as Bermudez’s work can be in its

out, or isolated and small in a corner. It could be

exploration of American culture, the artist continues

lost. We might think about the flag’s positioning

to embrace the US as the greatest utopia the world

in our national anthem. It could be lost, but “the

has known. America remains the myth, the place

rockets’ red glare . . .gave proof through the night

“where dreams come true,” the great mythological

that our flag was still there.” So, the flag is almost

promise he perceived from afar as a younger man

out of reach, leaving the frame in The Wall (2018).

in Venezuela. An abstraction, the mythological

It is tightly wound at the bottom of Zero Tolerance

promise can’t fail; it may be that in our imperfect

(2018) while an out-of-frame parent and child

lives we don’t live up to America, but still, America

reach for each other. Quetzalcoatl “unmasks” the

stands as a supreme abstraction of hope and

scene. Both paintings depict the plight of political

promise. This positive embrace of America is the

refugees at the US border with Mexico and offer a

strength that Bermudez believes made it possible to

criticism of our current political landscape. In other

for him to persevere, and now succeed.

recent paintings Bermudez uses Mickey Mouse 16

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Zero Tolerance/ Tolerancia cero, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist)

On October 20, 2023, Bermudez celebrated his

population is always changing, it is becoming more

twentieth year in the US, or as he likes to describe

pluralistic. As an artist, Bermudez is constantly

it, his “rebirth.” He does not like to dwell on his life in

experimenting, and his ultimate experiment has been

Venezuela. He considers himself an American artist

building his new life as an American citizen in Phila-

from Venezuela, a Latin American artist, a Phila-

delphia. He has been reborn in the birthplace of

delphia artist who continues to find his place in the

American democracy.

great American melting pot. He continues to be a collector of symbols and images from different cultures, amid a vibrant life in America’s founding city. There is no single American culture, and as the

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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The Wall/La pared, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist)

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EVERYTHING IS INTERRELATED, NOTHING STANDS ALONE: HENRY BERMUDEZ’S JOURNEY TO PHILADELPHIA JORGE LUIS GUTIERREZ

“ It’s not easy to start over in a new place,” he said. “Exile is not for everyone. Someone has to stay behind, to receive the letters and greet family members when they come back.”

—EDWIDGE DANTICAT, BROTHER, I’M DYING

Henry Bermudez’s interest in the visual

to capture his now-emblematic subjects: the

representation of cultures and mythologies has

intersecting icons of myth, human history, and nature.

driven his work throughout his career. His journey of unique geographical, artistic, and human observation has taken him from his formative experiences in small, isolated communities in the Caribbean to representing Venezuela in the Venice Biennale. His work transcends national boundaries. An artist-nomad, he has lived in Mexico City, New York, Caracas, Rome, Maracaibo, Venice,

THE NOMADIC STRATEGY: THE LOOK OF THE “OTHER”

“ I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

—SUSAN SONTAG

Gelsenkirchen, Lima, Kunshan, to name a few, and, for the past twenty years, Philadelphia.

Bermudez assimilates elements of the diverse

As a young man, Bermudez formed his powerful

geographies in which he has lived and transforms

artistic vision from the fusion of religious and social

them into metaphors of the past, the present,

traditions of the Venezuelan coastal Afro-Caribbean

and future: Latin American myths, symbols, and

community of Bobures, whose symbolism and

syncretism (Venezuela, Mexico, Peru); dominion,

iconography arose from the African diaspora.

conceptualism, and mixed media (New York, Rome,

It occasioned his first steps, breaking from the

Germany); globalism in art, adapted iconography,

formalities of mainstream styles learned in art

and experimentation (Philadelphia). He does

school, and launched him into a long search for new

not follow fashionable art-collecting trends, nor

forms of expression. Bermudez continues to pursue

does he cling to the disciplines dividing art into

intense research, experimentation, and hybrid

accepted classifications of ethnography, folklore,

artistic approaches, fluidly moving between modes.

semiotics, and anthropology. His approach is based

He has realized his gestural and expressionistic

on a specific nomadic methodology, capable of

style on a significantly larger scale, and continues

circulating through history and the complexities

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Flor, 2019 (Courtesy of the artist)

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Cloud of Water/Nube de agua, 2017 (Courtesy of the artist)

of today’s cultures. Through each of his works,

The major cultural forces of the American

Bermudez seeks to redesign the forms used to

continent—not only English, French, and Spanish,

narrate a visual record of hybrid culture and society.

but also Indigenous and African—make tracing

It includes, without reference to any hierarchies

any artistic development a fragmented process.

of value, the Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Asian, and Afro-

Bermudez’s artistic project is loaded with narratives

descendant multitudes.

inspired by milestones, myths, and stories from

Bermudez’s contributions to contemporary American art are tied to his global journey. His work contains signs and images of mixed and unfinished memories of past and contemporary societies. He paints a world that transforms minute by minute, informed by the achievements, triumphs,

many of these cultures, from sophisticated civilizations that were present in whole splendor centuries before the arrival of Europeans, through a long process of confrontations, exterminations, mergers, innovations, and unexpected mixtures, to the post-colonial period.

contradictions, and cross-failures of its inhabitants.

Modernism in Latin America became an experience

His creative strategy is nonlinear; it is malleable,

of mixed and unfinished results, reflecting the

developing on several parallel levels of narration

region’s struggles in its search for identity and its

and reading.

turbulent social and political history. In this context,

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Tattooed Nature/Naturaleza tatuada, 2013–21 (Courtesy of the artist)

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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The Tiger Spiral/La espiral del tigre, 2011 (Courtesy of the artist)

the prevailing art trends were figuration inspired

are repeated, and Latin American art is reduced to

by national values, exemplified by the work of

the work of Mexican muralists and magical realism.”1

Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo, and geometric abstraction and concrete art open to foreign influence, embraced by artists such as Julio Le Parc and Jesús Rafael Soto.

Bermudez has broken away from these dominating art trends. He dissociates himself from established idealizations and stereotypes, a move that intensified when he arrived in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia liberated him from a narrative burden and initiated a highly fruitful experimental period.

ONE OR MULTIPLE ORIGINS: CONTEXT, IN TIME AND PLACE

“ One must always maintain one’s connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.”

—GASTON BACHELARD

Bermudez continues to tell elaborate, multidimensional stories about what we are. In

Bermudez conceives of Latin America, where

this sense, as Dawn Ades, a member of the British

he developed the initial phases of his creative

Academy, former Tate trustee, and professor of art

narrative, as his starting point. However, from that

history at the Royal Academy, states: “Latin America

point onward, he proposes a journey gleaned

occupies a peculiar position, being both part of and

from multiple places that have nurtured his ideas.

distinct from Western artistic traditions and the

Bermudez does not seek recognition of his work

modernist canon. On the rare occasions when it is

based on his origins; instead, he embraces an

included in the general history of art, this is almost

absolute aesthetic autonomy. As he views his

always in terms of European norms, so stereotypes

work as part of a global language, there are no

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The Scream/El grito, 2011 (Courtesy of the artist)

hierarchical classifications or divisions and, thus,

linked to the reflection, experimentation with, and

no regionalisms or provincialisms.

transmission of underlying meanings in art. In

Decades of political turmoil, social contrast, and radical change in art pushed Bermudez out of his artistic comfort zone and fueled the development of

this period, mythical symbols like the eagle, the tiger, and the snake are integrated into his intense environmental landscapes.

his discourse. In the 1970s, he left Maracaibo for

The 1980s marked a paradigm shift with the

Mexico, where the first transformation of his work

emergence of an economic model of globalization,

occurred, as observed by noted critic Roberto Guevara:

reshaping the art market, collecting, and the

“ Mexico’s experience was important.

A more accurate narrative insisted on describing the places of a city with the same resources as the previous drawings: The colors began with solemn meaning at the beginning, as the use of greys, gilded, and silver, then becoming an inflamed intensity of colors, more

investment value of art. Nowhere was this commodification of creativity more evident than in New York. Artists such as Richard Prince, JeanMichel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Willem de Kooning, Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Eric Fischl, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Sherrie Levine, and Damien Hirst defined the city’s profile as the center of the art market.

additive than integrative. The fire was

It was against this background that Bermudez left

outside the drawing. We had to wait for

Mexico for New York. It was there that the unbridled

fusion at the right temperature.”

art market unfolded before his eyes, and there

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The development of Bermudez’s work belongs to a counterbalancing movement from the 1970s,

that he first experienced the meanings, modes of operation, dynamics, and practices of the Western art world. Equally important to him were the city’s HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Petals I/Pétalos I, 2013 (Courtesy of the artist)

great museums, auction houses, and galleries. The

This experience allowed him to observe art’s

energy, shock, and intensity of New York spurred

migratory mobility, artistic diasporas, and the

Bermudez to study the elements that characterized

redefinition of identities within these contexts.

his narrative and creative strategies. As time passed,

Pepón Osorio, Andres Serrano, and Ana Mendieta,

his work began to operate beyond the framework

among others, shared Bermudez’s cross-cultural

of Latin American art. He felt that this definition

experience. These creators assumed a perspective

did not contain his work. After the New York

unknown to him until then—the existence and

experience, his work changed with larger formats,

significant contributions of Latino artists in the

color shifts, and more clarity in form and content.

United States.

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The Migration/La emigración, 2022 (Courtesy of the artist)

Returning to Venezuela in the mid-1980s,

work exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary

Bermudez began working in larger formats, with

Art in Caracas in 1986, Bermudez was selected to

new propositions and strategies in the cross-

represent Venezuela at the 42nd Venice Biennale

discourse between drawing and painting. His work

under the curatorship of Thomas W. Sokolowski,

began to show greater command and frankness

alongside artists including Isamu Noguchi, Sigmar

in use of color and a high degree of fluidity in

Polke, and Frank Auerbach. It was an extraordinary

the combined different techniques and forms.

and singular honor.

The attention of critics and curators attested to a belief in its growing significance. After having his

Encouraged by the national recognition and appreciation of his work in the art market as well as HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

27

The Stripper/El nudista, 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

the nomination to represent his country in

transformation in his work was not the only thing

Venice, Bermudez moved to Rome to find new

changing; the global financial crisis of 1987 ushered

references and a broader global art language.

in a severe recession. As a result, artists began

Where Mexico had signified pre-Columbian cultures,

looking beyond the art world for their themes. The

Rome referred to the art of Western civilization.

AIDS crisis, gun control, environmental issues, class,

After Italy, Bermudez returned to Venezuela

race, and the gaze of the “other” took their place

unwilling to compromise his art’s formal and

on the art agenda. The notion of the artist as an

conceptual direction. His work was well positioned

ethnographer emerged. Theorists such as Edward

in the art market, exhibited in diverse museums,

Said, Frantz Fanon, Thomas McEvilley, and Édouard

and was acquired by a number of private and

Glissant took an active role in the critical dialogue of

institutional collectors.

the period.

With the stability offered by recognition and

Latin American and Caribbean art experienced

response in the art market, Bermudez decided to

growing visibility compared to previous decades.

leave again—this time for Germany. There his work

Inventories of the region’s artwork emerged in

underwent several shifts: the colors decreased

multiple exhibitions, both local and in non-Latin

in intensity, and the fusion between drawing

American territories. Exhibitions in Venezuela, Spain,

and painting became stronger. The symbols

US, and Colombia brought together international

and references took on new meanings. But the

loans from such institutions as the Luis Ángel

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Untitled (Sankofa and Duchess), date unknown (Courtesy of the artist)

Arango Library in Bogotá; the Alejandro Otero

By the 1990s, dominant ideas of the avant-garde

Museum of Visual Arts in Caracas; the Winnipeg Art

and modernism had been reduced to rhetoric and

Gallery in Canada; the Museum of Modern Art, the

semantics. Bermudez kept his discipline of research,

Queens Museum of Art, and the Bronx Museum in

rigorous work, and production in his studio as an

New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and

everyday practice. He strove for excellence in his

the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin.

career, not temporary labels. Meanwhile, Venezuela accelerated its descent into a deepening political,

PHILADELPHIA SERENDIPITY

social, and economic crisis.

“ A culture, we all know, is made by its cities.”

In 2003, with the tense economic and political

—DEREK WALCOTT

Philadelphia while on a visit to New York and

situation in Venezuela, Bermudez stopped in would never leave again. He had been searching for a city that would hold fast to the traditions, interests, or ideals of America and Europe in his HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

29

Buscando Acomodo, 2019 (Courtesy of the artist)

need to reimagine new ways of doing. Philadelphia

federalism, and the social model of democracy and

appeared as an epiphany in his life. Known in

coexistence. It offered Bermudez a rich insights

colonial times as the “Athens of America” because

into history, culture, race, and ambiance. He saw

of its rich cultural life, the city had shaped itself as

an intellectually dense urban center with historical

a land of opportunity for European immigrants for

references. He decided that this city was his

hundreds of years. It brought together intellectuals

destiny. He became an unapologetic immigrant in

who forged new concepts of freedom, republic,

exile there.

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Mythological Creature, 2022 (Courtesy of the artist)

Henry Bermudez is now a Philadelphia artist, living,

NOTES

creating, teaching, and developing his work. His

1 Dawn Ades, Writings on Art and Anti-Art (London: Ridinghouse, 2015).

current interest involves the fabrication of imaginary

2 Roberto Guevara, 1985, “Los triunfos del dibujo” [The Triumphs of Drawing], National Journal of Culture, 47(259).

paradigms of diverse societies, making possible visual narrations that surprise us, provoke questions, and move us beyond our everyday lives.

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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SELECTED CHRONOLOGY

1951 Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela

1965–70 Studies at the National School of Art, Maracaibo Teaches in Bobures, Zulia, Venezuela

1972 First solo exhibition, Gaudi Art Gallery, Maracaibo

1976 Moves to Mexico City, Mexico Brown Tree I/Árbol marron I, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist)

1976–79 Studies at the National School of Art, Mexico City

1983 1977

Returns to Venezuela (Caracas)

Solo exhibtion, San Angel Art Gallery, Mexico City

1984 1980

Group exhibition: Three Artists for a Biennial,

Moves to New York

Museum of Contemporary Art Sofia Imber, Caracas, Venezuela

1980–83

Solo exhibition, Arch Gallery, New York

Studies at the Art Students League, New York

1985 Moves to Rome and remains there for one year

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Brown Tree II/Árbol marron II, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist)

1986

1999

Represents Venezuela in the XLII Venice Biennale

Hugo Chávez is elected president of Venezuela, giving rise to an authoritarian populist regime

1987 Group exhibition and award: Christian Dior Grand

2001

Prize for Visual Arts, Euroamerican Art Center,

Group exhibition: X Biennale International of

Caracas

Drawing, Taipei, Republic of China

1998

2003

Group exhibition: The Infinite Signs of the Sun,

Moves to Miami

Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia (MACZUL), Maracaibo, Venezuela

In October, relocates to Philadelphia

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Spiral II, 2021 (Courtesy of the artist)

Group exhibition: The Box, Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia

2010 Group exhibition: Suenos: Latin American Contemporary Art, Noyes Museum, New Jersey

2004

Solo exhibition: Encantamientos/Enchantments, The

Completes first of six murals for the City of

Painted Bride, Philadelphia

Philadelphia Mural Arts Projects, including collaborations with artists Frank Hyder, Michelle Angela Ortiz, and Paul Santoleri.

2011 Begins teaching at the Career and Academic

2009 Group exhibition: To Be or Not to Be/A Painter’s Dilemma, Rutgers University Department of Fine Arts, Camden, New Jersey

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Development Institute, Philadelphia Completes installation at Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal C

Spiral III, 2021 (Courtesy of the artist)

Solo exhibition: Pen, Ink, Paper, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia Group exhibition: Philagrafika: The Graphic Unconscious, Philadelphia Receives Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant

2013 Completes Kelicia’s Project series In September, becomes a US citizen

2014 Group exhibition: Flight Plan: Drawings on Paper

2012

and Leaf: Henry Bermudez and Michelle Marcuse,

Solo exhibition: Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia

Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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2015

Solo exhibition: In Black and White, Delaware

Begins teaching at Fleisher Art Memorial,

College of Art and Design, Wilmington

Philadelphia Solo exhibition: Racso Art Gallery, Philadelphia Group exhibition: Borderless Caribbean, Haitian Cultural Art Alliance, Miami Group exhibition: Apollonian|Dionysian: The Constraints of Freedom, Painted Bride, Philadelphia

2019 Solo exhibition: Totally Mythological, Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington

2020 Solo exhibition: Desolación en la Mente, Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia

2016 Visits Peru for research

Solo exhibition: Tattoed Nature, List Gallery, Swarthmore College

Group exhibition: Paisajes, Galleria de Artes Visuales, University of Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru

2022

Group exhibition: Destination Latin America,

Group exhibition: Cultivating Space, Rowan

Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York

University Art Gallery, Glassboro, New Jersey

Group exhibition: Taller Boricua, New York Emerging Visual Artists, Peter Benoliel Visual Artist Fellowship

2023 Secures representation by Wexler Gallery, Philadelphia Group exhibition: Latin American, Caribbean, and

2017 Awarded Libby Newman Artist Residency, Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Philadelphia

New York

2024

2018 Group exhibition: Woodmere Annual 77th Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, juried

by Syd Carpenter Solo exhibition: Borbures: The Presence of Memory, Dene M. Louchheim Faculty Fellowship award exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia

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Latinx Voices, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase,

WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Solo exhibition: Henry Bermudez in Philadelphia, Woodmere Art Museum Group exhibition: MADE in PA, Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State; The RainMakers Dance (2018) in Woodmere’s collection is included

Philadelphia, 2011 (Gift of Philagrafika, 2015) HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION All works by Henry Bermudez (American, born Venezuela 1951).

From the series The Eagle and the Sun/De la serie el águila y el sol, 2003 Oil on canvas, 13 x 25 in.

The Tiger Spiral/La espiral del tigre, 2011 Acrylic on cut paper, 25 x 65 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Resting Snake/El reposo de la serpiente, 2007 Acrylic on cut paper, 96 x 48 in.

Courtesy of the artist

What Mr. von Humboldt Saw When He Visited the Orinoco/ Lo que von Humboldt vió cuando visitó el Orinoco, 2008 Acrylic on cut paper reassembled on canvas, 46 x 63 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Visitor VIII/La visitante VIII, 2011 Oil and acrylic on paper, 22 x 60 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Philadelphia, 2011 Digital print with reflective foil layer and die-cut, 18 x 15 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

The Scream/El grito, 2011 Acrylic on cut paper, 26 x 65 1/2 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Rain Over Red Forest, 2017 Lithograph, 30 x 42 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

Birds/Pájaros, 2013 Acrylic and ink on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Brown Tree II/Árbol marron II, 2018 Acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

Petals I/Pétalos I, 2013 Acrylic and ink on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Tattooed Nature/Naturaleza tatuada, 2013–21 Digital image and acrylic on cut paper, 120 x 120 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Medusa, 2011 Oil and acrylic on paper, 27 x 60 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

The Heaven/El cielo, 2007 Acrylic, silver, and gold leaf on cut paper reassembled on canvas, 96 x 192 in.

Brown Tree I/Árbol marron I, 2018 Acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Cloud of Water/Nube de agua, 2017 Acrylic and glitter on canvas, 72 x 120 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Pledge of Allegiance, 2018 Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 72 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Tattooed Tree I/Árbol tatuado I, 2018 Acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Tattooed Tree III/Árbol tatuado III, 2018 Acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 in.

Courtesy of the artist

The Wall/La pared, 2018 Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Gonzalez Sisters/Las hermanas Gonzalez, 2017 Acrylic and glitter on canvas, 96 x 60 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Zero Tolerance/Tolerancia cero, 2018 Acrylic and glitter on canvas, 83 x 72 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Buscando Acomodo, 2019 Ink and pastel on paper, 11 x 14 in.

Courtesy of the artist

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Birds/Pájaros, 2013 (Courtesy of the artist) HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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Tattooed Tree I/ Árbol tatuado I, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist)

Flor, 2019 Acrylic on paper, 13 x 9 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Miss America, 2019 Acrylic and glitter on canvas, 50 x 72 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Premonition of a Civil War (Venezuela)/Premonición de una guerra civil (Venezuela), 2019 Acrylic on canvas, 82 x 70 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Our Cousin from Europe Visiting America/Nuestra prima europea visita America, 2020 Oil on canvas, 53 x 48 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

The Singer, 2020 Acrylic and oil on canvas, 20 x 46 in.

Courtesy of the artist

From the series Black Landscape/ De la serie paisaje negro, nos. 1–8 2021 Oil and acrylic on canvas, 25 x 22 in.

Courtesy of the artist

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From the series Black Landscape/ De la serie paisaje negro, nos. 9–11 2021 Oil and acrylic on canvas, 26 x 22 in.

From the series Black Landscape/ De la serie paisaje negro, no. 12 2021 Oil and acrylic on canvas, 27 x 22 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Tattooed Tree III/Árbol tatuado III, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist) HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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From the series Black Landscape/De la serie paisaje negro, 2021 (Courtesy of the artist)

42

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HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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From the series Black Landscape/De la serie paisaje negro, 2021 (Courtesy of the artist)

Spiral I, 2021 Acrylic on canvas, with synthetic fur mounted on wood, 25 x 21 1/2 in.

Spiral III, 2021 Acrylic on canvas, with synthetic fur mounted on wood, 27 x 22 1/2 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

Spiral II, 2021 Acrylic on canvas, with synthetic fur mounted on wood, 27 x 23 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Mythological Creature, 2022 Acrylic and glitter on paper, 18 x 24 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Black Sunflowers/Girasoles negros, 2023 Acrylic and glitter on canvas, plastic sunflowers and synthetic fur, 88 x 89 in.

Courtesy of the artist

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The Stripper/El nudista, 2023 Acrylic and synthetic fur on wood, 36 x 55 in.

Untitled (Sankofa and Duchess), date unknown Acrylic on paper, 9 x 12 in.

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

MICHELLE MARCUSE AND HENRY BERMUDEZ Untitled, 2021 Cardboard and oil on cardboard, 39 x 46 in.

Courtesy of the artists

HENRY BERMUDEZ IN PHILADELPHIA

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©2024 Woodmere Art Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.

Catalogue designed by Barb Barnett and Kelly Edwards, and edited by Gretchen Dykstra, with assistance from Irene Elias and Rafaela Brosnan.

All photography by Jack Ramsdale, except: Peter Camburn: Resting Snake, p. 7

Woodmere Art Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

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John Carlano: Migration, p. 27; Tattooed Nature, p. 23; Cloud of Water, p. 22; The Wall, pp. 18–19; Pledge of Allegiance, p. 16; Zero Tolerance, p. 17; Premonition of a Civil War, p. 15 Courtesy of the artist: Gonzalez Sisters, p. 6 Front cover: Miss America, 2019, by Henry Bermudez (Courtesy of the artist)

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