José Bedia

JOSE BEDIA (Havana, Cuba, 1959).
"Nkisi Nkonde", 2009.
Mixed media on paper.
Attached certificate of authenticity issued by the author and catalog.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 127 x 97 cm; 141 x 111 cm (frame).
This work by José Bedia presents a dynamic composition that combines figurative and abstract elements with an expressive use of line and color. Dominated by black and orange tones, the piece shows an elongated central figure, with an upright posture, evoking a spirituality or deep symbolism. The title "Nkisi Nkonde", written at the top, refers to ritual objects of the Congo cultures, traditionally used in religious practices to invoke spiritual forces. In the lower part of the work, there is a smaller figure, a child or human being that seems to be emotionally and visually linked to the central element, reinforcing an ancestral connection and continuity between generations.
The use of orange provides a vibrant and energetic contrast, which together with the black lines creates a sense of movement and tension. Abstract forms and human figures intertwine, symbolizing the relationship between the spiritual and the earthly. Bedia employs textures and lines that seem to emanate from the traditions of primitive art and modernism, integrating them into a contemporary language.

As the artist's website notes, from an early age Jose Bedia excelled in drawing, comics and illustration, and as a teenager he began his academic training at the famed San Alejandro Academy. As a student he developed the formal skills he has been using throughout his artistic career. After San Alejandro, he graduated with honors from ISA, Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba. He was a pioneer of the radical transformation of Cuban art that inaugurated the Volume 1 Exhibition, of which Bedia was an integral part. His passion for the primary Amerindians led him to complement his anthropological studies on Afro-Transatlantic cultures, studying in depth the faith, beliefs and religion of "La Regla Kongo" (in which he was initiated in 1983), the "Regla de Ocha", and the Leopard Society of Abakuas, among many others. He traveled to Angola as part of the International Cultural Brigades that supported the war struggle between Angola and Cuba against Namibia and South Africa. This contact with the mother continent and the war increased his interest in the African roots of American culture. This interest led him to visit countries such as Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania. After residing in Mexico this vast knowledge has marked his work and shows how this cultural heritage has influenced our real daily life. Thanks to this solid work, characterized by the mixture of "narration" that he calls informative lessons on the cosmogonic Universes of ancestral cultures and the influence on popular cultures, his work has been exhibited in the Biennials of Havana, Sao Paulo, Venice and Beijing. He has received awards and acclaim that position him as one of the most notorious and prestigious art creators from the second half of the twentieth century to the present. Today his works are in very important private and public collections such as the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Havana), MoMA, Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC), Guggenheim, Tate Modern, Smithsonian Museum (Washington), Daros Collection (Zurich), MEIAC, DA2, IVAM, CAAM (Spain), MOCA, MAM and PAMM in Miami.