RECEPTION & PANEL DISCUSSION

TOTALLY MYTHOLOGICAL
Henry Bermudez

February 28 - April 25, 2019

Opening Reception: Friday, March 1, 2019
5 - 9 PM | during first Friday Art loop
5:30 - 6:15 PM | Panel discussion, Crossed Sites

• The panel includes curator Jorge Gutierrez, artist Henry Bermudez, and renowned curators via Skype. The panel discussion will be followed by a Q & A.
  

Henry Bermudez's interest in visual representations of cultures and mythologies has appeared in his work in varying forms throughout his career. As he transcends time and national boundaries, he constantly searches for the mythological elements of his cultural roots and mythological stereotypes in contemporary culture. 
Bermudez explores unique geographical locations coupled with artistic observation. Those discoveries have taken Bermudez from educational experiences in small isolated communities in the Caribbean to representing Venezuela in the Venice Biennial.

In the Venezuelan coastal Afro-Caribbean community of Borbures, religious and social blending provide a unique vision of the African Diaspora in the Americas with its symbolism and iconography. These were his first impacts in the process of breaking from the formalities of mainstream styles learned in school. With these early experiences came the desire for new forms of expression resulting in complex, magical worlds, intricate patterning, and profusion of color.

Totally Mythological is comprised of four paintings. Each one contains what art blogger Libby Rosof considers "tumultuous visions," symbols that create connections between past legends and the present myths, inviting the viewer to consider their own place in the world.

Henry Bermudez attended the National Schools of Art in Venezuela and was awarded a scholarship to the National School of Art "La Esmeralda" in Mexico City. He also studied at New York City's Art Student's League, as well as in Rome. He was selected to be the Venezuelan representative for the 1986 Venice Biennale. His work has been included in many exhibition catalogs such as the X International Print and Drawing Exhibition of China, as well as in books on the subject of Venezuelan art.

Since his arrival in the USA in 2003, the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia has commissioned him on several major projects. In 2011, he was one of a handful of artists chosen to work with the Philagrafika print collaborative founded by artistic director and curator Jose Roca. In 2012, Bermudez received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. He was elected to present an installation at The Philadelphia International Airport Art program in 2014. Currently, he is the recipient of a Peter Benoliel Fellowship from CFEVA in Philadelphia, PA. HenryBermudez currently teaches art at the Career Academy Developing Institute (CADI) and at Fleisher Art Memorial. He is co-director of House Gallery 1816 in Fishtown and maintains an active studio and exhibition schedule.

Curated by Jorge Gutierrez, this exhibition was originally conceived by Ms. Kelicia Pitts, former Gallery and Events Manager at Delaware College of Art and Design. 
Jorge Gutierrez

Gutierrez serves as an independent consultant and curator for Curatorial Labs in Philadelphia and the Dora Contemporary Art Museum in Doral, FL. A dynamic visual art manager and curator, Gutierrez offers exhibitions that are designed to engage a range of curators, scholars, critics, and diverse audiences, and display a broad historical, cultural, and aesthetic range of arts. His writings have appeared in numerous publications. He is the Founder-director of the Miami Dade College Art Gallery System, the Freedom Tower Museum [MDC Museum of Art & Design] Founder-Director of the Museum of Visual Arts - [Museo de Artes Visuales Alejandro Otero], Venezuela, advisor in museum management for the Organization of American States for the Americas, and, invited curator at MOCA - Miami. Gutierrez developed key exhibitions regarding the Caribbean. Latin American, African American, and contemporary European expression becoming traveling shows to institutions in Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and Canada, and in institutions such as the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Queens Museum of Art in New York City. 

Constance S. & Robert J. Hennessy Project Space