José Bernal

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Jose Bernal, 1952

José Bernal (born January 8, 1925 in Santa Clara , Cuba , † April 19, 2010 in Skokie , Illinois ) is a Cuban -American painter . In 1980 he became a US citizen.

José Bernal's art is a highly independent body of work. His aesthetic stems from a fertile imagination, his Cuban origins and the experience of exile and a new beginning. Bernal's oeuvre from 1937 to the present day covers a broad spectrum of styles, sometimes alluding to the old masters, sometimes citing newer art movements. His work has been described as modernist , abstract, and expressionist , but the broad spectrum of his art defies categorization. His work can also be termed postmodern , especially as he rejects the concept of the new in art, a view he shares with postmodern theory.

Life

Cuba

Madre Tierra, 1943

From early childhood, José Bernal received intensive instruction in art and music, stimulated and supported by his artistic parents. His studies led him to teach art. At the same time, he continued his studies at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Leopoldo Romañach , where he obtained a master's degree ( Master of Fine Arts ). His musical and visual creations have been performed and exhibited in Santa Clara and Havana .

In 1961, during the Bay of Pigs invasion , Bernal was among the large number of Cubans arrested for "unpatriotic behavior". After his release, Bernal feared for his life and that of his family. He and his wife carefully planned to leave the country with their three young children. However, it took them more than a year to obtain visas, and in June 1962 they left Cuba.

United States

In Miami , the Bernal family reached the United States. However, they could only stay a few months in Florida due to a lack of job opportunities and moved to Chicago in the fall of 1962 . Bernal had to earn a living for his family, which turned out to be difficult due to a lack of language skills. He found a job in a company that designed commercial art. Bernal also continued to work on his private works of art. During this time his work went through a change, which was caused by the change of the geographical environment. In Cuba, his palette did not reflect the bright, intense colors of his homeland, but in Chicago he began to depict the tropical colors of his Caribbean homeland in his art.

Campfire in the woods, 1950

In 1964, Bernal's art portfolio was seen by one of the directors of Marshall Field's , who admired his talent and offered him a position as a designer. The director of Marshall Field's art gallery convinced Bernal to exhibit his Impressionist portraits, landscapes and still lifes. Shortly thereafter, Betty Parsons , an art dealer, artist, and art collector discovered his work and began organizing a series of paintings, exhibitions, and sales. The lucrative connection made it possible for Bernal to quit his job at Marshall Field's and go back to teaching. Now he could practice his double dream of teaching and painting.

After his MFA degree was recognized by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970 , Bernal began teaching art while working on and exhibiting his own creations. Lydia Murman, an art critic for the New Art Examiner , wrote of his solo exhibition of collages and assemblages in 1981:

"Bernal's works involve the viewer because they resurrect the concern for art as a communicative force. The viewer reacts to the classical arrangement, in which found objects are manipulated with a respect for their physical properties and for their potential symbolic value. While warm wood, old newspaper print, tarnished metal, and antique objects produce an aura that absorbs the viewer and stirs archetypal images within his subconscious, some works, such as "Balancing the Unbalanced", in which a faucet is perceived as a faucet, invite the viewer to open the dialogue concerning substance and illusion, art and reality. "

“Bernal's works draw the viewer in because they revive the interest in art as a communicative force. The viewer reacts to the classic arrangement in which objects are manipulated with regard to their physical properties and their possible symbolic value. On the other hand, warm wood, old newspaper printing, tarnished metal and antique objects produce an aura that not only attracts the viewer, but also lets them recognize archetypal images in the subconscious. Some works, such as "Balancing the Unbalanced", in which a faucet is perceived as a water tap, invite the viewer to open a dialogue with regard to substance and illusion, art and reality. "

Drought in paradise, 1974

Although Bernal and his family initially refused to admit it, he showed the first signs of Parkinson's disease in 1980 , and the disease was confirmed in 1993. However, the illness didn't stop Bernal from continuing to paint, and he fought the damage caused by the illness. In 2004, Bernal suggested to the National Parkinson Foundation in Miami that some of his paintings be donated for auction in order to support the institute financially. Bernal has donated almost 300 pictures in this way.

Bernal's work is commented on in two books by Dorothy Chaplik on Latin American art: Latin American Arts and Cultures and Defining Latin American Art / Hacia una definición del arte latinoamericano . In her essay The Art of José Bernal she describes his art as multifaceted, fruitful and unmistakable. Furthermore, it shows Bernal's artistic transformation through the challenges in his life: the political unrest in Cuba, his personal fight against Parkinson's disease and his unwavering turn to a life-affirming art.

José Bernal died on April 19, 2010 at his home in Skokie Illinois of complications from his illness. Documents relating to his life and artistic work are kept in the Institute for Latino Studies of the Julian Samora Library at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and made available for research.

Public collections

Web links

Commons : José Bernal  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dorothy Chaplik, "The Art of José Bernal," essay in artnet's Artist Works Catalogs
  2. ^ Lydia Murman, "Collage & Assemblage: One Man Show, 1981", New Art Examiner , January, 1982.
  3. ↑ "José Bernal Tribute (The Art of Fighting Back: Honoring José Bernal)", Parkinson Report Magazine, [1] vol. XVII, issue 2, Spring, 2006, p. 29, cover picture.
  4. ↑ Dorothy Chaplik, "Latin American Arts and Cultures," Davis Publications, Inc., Chapter 7: The Modern World, p 112 ISBN 0-87192-547-8
  5. ^ "Defining Latin American Art / Hacia una definición del arte latinoamericano, " McFarland & Co., Inc., Publishers, pp. 96-97. ISBN 0-7864-1728-5
personal data
SURNAME Bernal, José
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban-American painter
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Santa Clara , Cuba
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 2010
Place of death Skokie , Illinois