Henry Bermudez attended the National Schools of Art in both Venezuela and Mexico and studied in New York City’s Art Student’s League, as well as in Rome. His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Latin America, Europe, Asia and the United States.
Bermudez’s paintings are steeped in mythical dream imagery, an otherworldliness of carefully constructed swirling forms, lush color and splashes of gold. His palette is rich and vibrant. Earthy jewel tones saturate the canvases, and his use of gold-leaf marks his work with a bright warm light. Bermudez’s figures emerge from the rich complexity of their settings, intertwining and flowing. His paintings exude a surrealistic atmosphere, suggesting a mythology full of complex cultures lost in the wilds of the jungle or living in a primordial world. Vines and trees are sinuous tangles emerging from the background, winding around themselves and figures. Horses, serpents and mythical figures are gracefully powerful striations of muscle and sensuality. The artist’s paintings deftly explore the intersection of pre-Columbian and Christian, melding the two cultures and creating a new language of images and meanings.
Henry Bermudez’s work has been placed in many prestigious public and private collections throughout Central and North America. Major museum collections include the museums of contemporary art in Caracas, Maracaibo, Merida and Maracay in Venezuela, as well as others. He was selected to be the Venezuelan representative for the 1986 Venice Biennale and has been the subject of numerous articles. His work has been included in many exhibition catalogs including the X International Print and Drawing Exibition of China, as well as in books on the subject of Venezuelan art.
Since returning to the U.S. in 2003, Bermudez has been working with the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia on several major projects and maintains an active studio and exhibition schedule.
EDUCATION:
1965-70 - Studied at the National School of Art “Julio Arraga”, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1976-79 - Studied at the National School of Art “La Esmeralda”, Mexico City, Mexico
1980-83 - Studied at the Art Student’s League, New York, NY
1985-86 - Studied in Rome, Italy
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2009 – (Upcoming) Signature Gallery, Miami, FL
2008 - “Con la Mirada en el Cielo”, Mason Murer Projects, Atlanta, GA
- “Con la Mirada en el Cielo”, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2007 - “Fragmented Dream”, Mason Murer Projects, Atlanta, GA
2006 - “Fragmented Dream”, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005 - “El Camino de Los Dioces”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Maracaibo, Venezuela
2004 - A Totally Mythological @ , Qbix Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
- “Endless Dream”, Perfect Touch Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2003 - “Diferencias en la Continuidad”, Contemporary Art Museum “Mario Abreu”, Maracay, Venezuela
- “Drawings”, Dimaca Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
2001 - “Nude Landscape”, Art and Space Gallery, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1998 - “Irma Parra and Henry Bermudez”, Art and Space Gallery, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1997 - “Enconter – Begegnung”, Dietmar Jakel and Henry Bermudez, Hardberg-Bonn, Germany
1996 - “Enconter – Begegnung”, Dietmar Jakel and Henry Bermudez, Gelsenkirchen Contemporary Art Museum, Germany
1993 - “God, Man and Nature”, Simon Bolivar University Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1991 - The Embassy Gallery, Miami, FL
1988 - Euroamerican Center Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1984 - Arch Gallery, New York, NY
1983 - Euroamerican Center Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1981 - Heyward Robinson Gallery, New York, NY
1979 - Estudio Actual Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1977 - San Angel Art Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
1975 - Estudio Actual Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1973 - Estudio Actual Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1972 - Gaudi Art Gallery, Maracaibo, Venezuela
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2008 - Red Dot NY represented by Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2007 - Bridge Art Fair Miami represented by Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Red Dot Miami Art Fair represented by Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- “Paper Cuts” Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Red Dot Chicago represented by Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- “Altered Landscapes” Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- “Obras” Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2006 - International Art Fair, Maraciabo, Venezuela
- “Black & White”, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Nova Art Fair, Chicago, IL exhibited by Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005 - The Second International Art Fair of Maracaibo, Venezuela
- “Back from Miami”, Hyder Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Art Miami 2005, Miami, FL, exhibited by Hyder Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2004 - “Between the Lines”, Hyder Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- “ Hanging Garden”, Hyder Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- “Spirits…Seen and Not”, Hyder Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2003 - “The Box”, Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
2002 - Labyrintum Art Gallery, Gelsenkirghem, Germany
2001 - “Caribbean Winds”, Galica Contemporary Art Gallery, Milan, Itlay
- X Biennale International of Drawing, Tai Pei, Republic of China
- “F.I.A. 2000” (International Art Fair of Caracas), Sal Ocre Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1999 - “Venezuelan Artists at the Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas Sofia Imber, Caracas
- XIII Artists for the Recuperation of the Maracaibo Lake, Contemporary Art Museum of
Maracaibo, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1998 - “The Drawing”, Venezuelan Art Center, Bogotá, Colombia
- “The Infinite Signs of the Sun”, Contemporary Art Museum, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1997 - “Hierofania, Art and Mirror”, Simon Bolivar University Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
- “Animals in the Art of Venezuelan Collections”, The Americans House, Palacio Linares, Madrid, Spain
1995 - Special Guest by the Committee of F.I.A. 95 (Int’l Art Fair of Caracas), Caracas, Venezuela
1994 - “II Biennale Camilo Pizarro”, Cultural Center Consolidado, Caracas, Venezuela
1993 - F.I.A. 93 (Int’l Art Fair of Caracas), Minotauro Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1991 - Venezuela and American Friendship Association “IV Venezuela Art Festical”, Freites Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
- “Salon de Arte Wizo”, Union Israeli, Caracas, Venezuela
1990 - “ Venezuela Emergen Art”, Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt A.M., Bremer, Gotting, Germany
1989 - Invited to III Biennial International of Havana, Cuba
1987-8 – Iberoamerican Cooperation Art Center, Madrid, Spain
- United Nations Venezuela Art Center, New York, NY
- Belle Art Museum, Caracas, Venezuela
- Cultural Affair of the Regional Government, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1987 - “Grand Prize Contest Christian Dior”, Caracas, Venezuela
1986 - XLII Biennale di Venezia – Venezuela’s Pabellon, Venice, Italy
- XX Triennial of Sacred Art, Milan, Italy
- Salon of Art “Alejo Carpentier”, Contemporary Art Museum Alejandro Otero
1984 - “Three Artists for a Biennial”, Contemporary Art Museum Sofia Imber, Caracas, Venezuela
1981 - “Drawing is Thinking”, C.D.S. Gallery, New York, NY
1980 - “The Ancient Hands, Today Signs”, C.A.N.T.V. Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
1978 - “Drawing, Ceramic, Etching”, Cultural House, Puebla, Mexico
1976 - X Paris Biennial
- III Drawings, Biennial of Cleveland, OH
- Line of Vision, International Exhibition, Washington, DC
1975 - “First National Contest of Drawing and Design”, University of the Andes, Merida, Venezuela
1972 - “First National Contest Salon Plaza”, Caracas, Venezuela
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
Venezuela National Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela
Venezuela Petroleum Company (P.D.V.S.A.), Maracaibo, Venezuela
Museum of Contemporary Art Sofia Imber, Caracas, Venezuela
Museum of Contemporary Art, Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Museum of Contemporary Art A Juan @ , Merida, Venezuela.
Museum of Contemporary Art A Mario Abreu @ , Maracay, Venezuela.
Moder Art Museum of Costa Rica, Costa Rica.
Puebla Cultural House, Puebla, Mexico.
Museum of Art A Ralli @ Punta Del Este Uruguay .
Heinz Industry, Art Collection, Caracas, Venezuela.
Hans Newman Art Collection, Caracas, Venezuela.
Harry Manil Art Collection, Caracas, Venezuela
Frederick D. Seely, New York, NY.
Haig Garden Collection, New York, NY
BIBLOGRAPHY:
Venezuela Painting History, by Carlos Silva. Armitanos Editor. Caracas,.Venezuela
Time and Space in the Venezuela Drawing, by Juan Calzadilla.
Study of Visual Art in Venezuela, by Juan Calzadilla, Mica Editor, Caracas, Venezuela.
Singulars Paintings of Venezuela Art, by Juan Calzadilla, Euzkoamericana of Editions C.A. and the Vasca Encyclopedic, Espane.
A The Collection of the Museum @ Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas Sofia Imber
Venezuela Central Bank 1940 B 1996, Caracas.
Henry Bermudez by Enrrique Viloria, Pavilo Editions, Caracas, Venezuela.
A El Quijote Latinoamericano @ Estampa Editions, Center for the Study of Cervante, Madrid. 1998.
X International Print and Drawing Exibition, Tai Pei, Republic of China
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