Video Channel

In the Artist’s Studio

Emilio Martinez

Honduras-born Emilio Martinez moved with his family to Miami when he was 13. His mixed-media work is based on childhood memories and dreams, which he records in his sketchbooks. He conveys his anxieties and experiences of dislocation in his work by using spiritual symbols derived from ancient, indigenous peoples. He describes his painting “Being Happy is My Choice” (in the museum’s “I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America” show) as a representation of happiness that accompanies self-conscious acceptance. On this episode of “In the Artist’s Studio”, visit featured artist Emilio Martinez at his Miami home, as he discusses his work on view in “I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America”, his past works and a glimpse at what he’s working on now.

José Bedia

One of the most prominent artists of Cuba’s venerated 80’s generation, José Bedia is deeply rooted in Afro-Cuban traditions. Although his painting, ‘A la Deriva’ (Adrift), 1998, on view in the museum’s exhibition “I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America” dates from the period of rootlessness he experienced in the 1990s after relocating from Cuba to Miami, he reflects, in this video, how it corresponds to the current period of uncertainty. Join Bedia in his studio where he paints on textiles he purchased during his recent trip to Mali.

To view more of his work, visit his site.

DEMI

Born in Camaguey, Cuba in 1955, DEMI is a Miami-based, Cuban-American artist whose works depict a vibrant and intimate universe centered on children. DEMI’s paintings, such as “Boy with Black Pacifier,” on view in NSU Art Museum’s exhibition, “I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America,” reflect her identity and past as a part of a forgotten generation of sons and daughters who were confronted with death, separation and loneliness as the children of parents who were executed in Cuba for political reasons. For DEMI, the meticulous layers of paint in her works represent layers of memory and meaning, and in this video, she shares what inspires her to create during this current period of uncertainty

April 9, 2020

Onajide Shabaka

Onajide Shabaka’s works suggest the personal mythology he associates with the African American community he encountered in Saint Lucie County, Florida, where he and his family lived. His drawing, “1984 – I Have Prosperity” furthers his interest in connecting with his family’s history and African American heritage. Shabaka helped his family assemble a rich archive of his elders’ letters and documents and was particularly intrigued by their spiritual devotionals and beautiful strokes of cursive writing. This archive inspired a recent series of works, including “1984 – I Have Prosperity”, which consists of a devotional text he found in the archives, which he copied using the cursive script that approximated his great aunt’s handwriting. This work honors his family and his connection with it.

Photos courtesy of Onajide Shabaka.

william cordova

william cordova moved from Peru to Miami with his family when he was six, attending high school and college in Miami before completing graduate studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University. He talks about the cultural inspirations of his work in the museum’s current exhibition I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America, and how as a young artist, making art was a coping mechanism that helped him deal with his fears and anxieties.

See what william is currently working on here.

cordova is also featured in NSU Art Museum’s ‘Art of History and Hip Hop”, which you can view on our YouTube channel.

Pablo Cano

Cuban-born, Miami-based performance artist Pablo Cano takes us behind the scenes in his Cricket Theater for an inside look at his creative process. Cano is best known for his marionettes and sculptures constructed from found objects that he stages in elaborate performances. Among his influences are the works of Alexander Calder, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg, Pablo Picasso and Russian Constructivist Alexandra Exter as well as Magical Realism, Dada, and Surrealism. His larger than life-size marionettes Lady Liberty and Saint Catherine, made from silver-colored metal trash cans and terracotta heads with painted faces, can be seen in the exhibition I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin America.

Experience Pablo’s ‘Viva Vaudeville” here.

Maria Martínez-Cañas

Cuban-born Maria Martinez-Canas, who has lived in Miami since 1986, is a photo-based artist who has used virtually every photographic medium to realize her objectives. NSU Art Museum owns 13 of her works, including, “Somos una historia de distancia” (We Are History from Afar), 1991, which is derived from her experimentation with the montage and collage techniques used by the Surrealists and can be seen in I Paint My Reality: Surrealism in Latin American Art. Paintings by Wifredo Lam, also on view in the exhibition, which blend modern art with Afro-Cuban imagery, were an important influence on Martinez-Canas early in her career as she explored her Cuban identity and heritage.