José Bernal
Encyclopedia
José Bernal was a Cuban-American artist
. He was born in Santa Clara
, Cuba, in the former province of Las Villas (now Villa Clara
) and became a naturalized U.S.A. citizen in 1980.
Bernal's art is distinguished by a highly independent body of work. His aesthetics stemmed from his Cuban birth and the experience of exile and renewal. His art has been described as modernist, abstract
, and expressionist. The term postmodernist also may be applied to Bernal's diverse and complex body of work, specifically as he rejected the notion of the new in art, a characteristic imbued in postmodern theory.
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From early childhood, Bernal was involved with art and music, encouraged by his parents. His studies led him to teach art, as well as to earn his MFA
from the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Leopoldo Romañach. His musical and visual creations were recognized, performed, and exhibited in Santa Clara
and Havana
.
Then, in 1961, "... during the Bay of Pigs Invasion
, Bernal was among the throngs of Cubans arrested for unpatriotic behavior[.] ... After his release, the threat of execution haunted [him] and his wife, and they cautiously initiated plans to leave the country with their three young children. It took more than a year to obtain visas ... [and] ... left Cuba in June, 1962."
. Their stay in the state was brief — a few months on account of the scarcity of employment. Subsequently, in autumn of 1962 they relocated to Chicago, Illinois. Bernal confronted the need to support his family and, because of language barriers, became employed in a factory designing artistic materials for commercial purposes. Meanwhile, he continued to produce personal art. Critics during this period observed his work revealed a transformation affected by the change in geographical environment. While in Cuba his palette did not reflect the brilliant, intense colors of his native land; but in Chicago he began to incorporate in his art the tropical hues of his Caribbean homeland.
In 1964, Bernal's art portfolio was reviewed by an executive at Marshall Field's
and he was offered a position as Senior Designer. There, the director of Field's fine arts gallery persuaded Bernal to exhibit his impressionist portraits, landscapes and still lifes. Shortly thereafter, "... Betty Parsons
, art dealer, artist, and collector, discovered Bernal's work and began a series of orders to show and sell his paintings[.] ... The lucrative connection made it possible for Bernal to give up his job at [Marshall] Field's and return to school where he could pursue his dual dream of teaching and painting."
After being granted an MFA
evaluation by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970, Bernal returned to teaching art while continuing to create and exhibit his works. Lydia Murman, art critic of the New Art Examiner
, wrote about Bernal's 1981 solo exhibition of collage
and assemblage
: "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."
"Although Bernal and his family didn't realize it, the first signs of Parkinson's disease
began to appear during the 1980s, and he was eventually diagnosed in 1993. [However,] ...he continued to work, to move forward and fight back against the ravages of the disease[.] ... In 2004, Bernal [proposed] to the National Parkinson Foundation
[in Miami, Florida] ... to donate a number of his paintings, which would be auctioned to benefit the foundation. Bernal's tremendous contribution ... expanded to some 300 works of art."
Bernal's work is annotated 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 but in her essay The Art of José Bernal she discusses Bernal's oeuvre, as well as describes Bernal's artistic process as he traversed life's challenges, including political unrest in Cuba, his personal battle with Parkinson's disease, and his passion for his art.
Bernal died of complications from Parkinson's disease on April 19, 2010, at his home in Skokie, Illinois.
Documents on the life and art of Bernal are archived in the Institute for Latino Studies of the Julian Samora Library at the University of Notre Dame
, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He was born in Santa Clara
Santa Clara, Cuba
Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is located in the most central region of the province and almost in the most central region of the country.- History :Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on July 15th, 1689...
, Cuba, in the former province of Las Villas (now Villa Clara
Villa Clara Province
Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering with the Atlantic at north, Matanzas Province by west, Sancti Spiritus by east, and Cienfuegos on the South. Villa Clara shares with Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus on the south the Escambray...
) and became a naturalized U.S.A. citizen in 1980.
Bernal's art is distinguished by a highly independent body of work. His aesthetics stemmed from his Cuban birth and the experience of exile and renewal. His art has been described as modernist, abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, and expressionist. The term postmodernist also may be applied to Bernal's diverse and complex body of work, specifically as he rejected the notion of the new in art, a characteristic imbued in postmodern theory.
Life in Cuba
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Leopoldo Romañach. His musical and visual creations were recognized, performed, and exhibited in Santa Clara
Santa Clara, Cuba
Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is located in the most central region of the province and almost in the most central region of the country.- History :Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on July 15th, 1689...
and Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
, Bernal was among the throngs of Cubans arrested for unpatriotic behavior[.] ... After his release, the threat of execution haunted [him] and his wife, and they cautiously initiated plans to leave the country with their three young children. It took more than a year to obtain visas ... [and] ... left Cuba in June, 1962."
Life in the U.S.A.
Bernal's family entered the United States in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. Their stay in the state was brief — a few months on account of the scarcity of employment. Subsequently, in autumn of 1962 they relocated to Chicago, Illinois. Bernal confronted the need to support his family and, because of language barriers, became employed in a factory designing artistic materials for commercial purposes. Meanwhile, he continued to produce personal art. Critics during this period observed his work revealed a transformation affected by the change in geographical environment. While in Cuba his palette did not reflect the brilliant, intense colors of his native land; but in Chicago he began to incorporate in his art the tropical hues of his Caribbean homeland.
In 1964, Bernal's art portfolio was reviewed by an executive at Marshall Field's
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
and he was offered a position as Senior Designer. There, the director of Field's fine arts gallery persuaded Bernal to exhibit his impressionist portraits, landscapes and still lifes. Shortly thereafter, "... Betty Parsons
Betty Parsons
Betty Parsons, born Betty Bierne Pierson, was an American artist and art dealer known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She was known as "the den mother of Abstract Expressionism"...
, art dealer, artist, and collector, discovered Bernal's work and began a series of orders to show and sell his paintings[.] ... The lucrative connection made it possible for Bernal to give up his job at [Marshall] Field's and return to school where he could pursue his dual dream of teaching and painting."
After being granted an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
evaluation by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970, Bernal returned to teaching art while continuing to create and exhibit his works. Lydia Murman, art critic of the New Art Examiner
New Art Examiner
New Art Examiner was a Chicago-based art magazine. Founded in October 1973 by Derek Guthrie and Jane Addams Allen. Publication ceased in 2002.November 2011 will see the release of Essential New Art Examiner, an Anthology of representative articles and editors...
, wrote about Bernal's 1981 solo exhibition of collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
and assemblage
Assemblage (art)
Assemblage is an artistic process. In the visual arts, it consists of making three-dimensional or two-dimensional artistic compositions by putting together found objects...
: "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."
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
began to appear during the 1980s, and he was eventually diagnosed in 1993. [However,] ...he continued to work, to move forward and fight back against the ravages of the disease[.] ... In 2004, Bernal [proposed] to the National Parkinson Foundation
National Parkinson Foundation
The National Parkinson Foundation , founded in 1957, is a national organization whose mission is to improve the quality of care for people with Parkinson's through clinical research, education and outreach on Parkinson’s disease....
[in Miami, Florida] ... to donate a number of his paintings, which would be auctioned to benefit the foundation. Bernal's tremendous contribution ... expanded to some 300 works of art."
Bernal's work is annotated 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 but in her essay The Art of José Bernal she discusses Bernal's oeuvre, as well as describes Bernal's artistic process as he traversed life's challenges, including political unrest in Cuba, his personal battle with Parkinson's disease, and his passion for his art.
Bernal died of complications from Parkinson's disease on April 19, 2010, at his home in Skokie, Illinois.
Documents on the life and art of Bernal are archived in the Institute for Latino Studies of the Julian Samora Library at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Museum collections
Bernal has artwork in a number of permanent collections, including:- San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
- Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, Tucson, Arizona
- Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina
- Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, North Carolina
- McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
- Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois
- The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
- Institute for Latino Studies/University of Notre Dame, Indiana
- Art Museum of the Americas, OAS, Washington, D.C.
- El Museo del Barrio, New York, New York
- DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, Illinois