Jose Bedia

Born Havana, Cuba 1959
Lives Miami
Abre Nkuto muchacho nuevo (Listen Up, Kid),
1989/2007
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
Collection Miami Art Museum,
partial and promised gift of José Bedia, Peter Menéndez and Fredric Snitzer

José Bedia is a Cuban-born artist currently living in Miami. He is known for combining fine arts with the vernacular language of folklore to create work that is complex, philosophical, and many times whimsical. His paintings, like folklore, frequently tie the practical and the esoteric into one narrative package that is informed by imagery and traditions deriving from Afro-Cuban and Native American religious beliefs and practices.  His narratives reflect these cultures' oral histories, proverbs, jokes, customs and popular beliefs. They are often personal abstracts relating to his experience and world view as a Palo Monte initiate. Palo Monte is an Afro-Cuban religion that has its roots in central Africa.

This installation features two heads, one larger than the other, that the artist paints onto the wall with his fingers. Connecting the two heads is a metallic bridge that runs from the mouth of the larger head to the ear of the smaller one. Perched on the bridge is a "power object," called a Nkuto, which is inscribed with the crossroads symbol of the Afro-Cuban orisha Eleggua. A Nkuto is a consecrated ritual cauldron made of iron or clay which houses the spirits of the dead as well as more powerful spirits known as Nkisi. In Palo Monte, the Nkuto represents a microcosm of the universe and is placed in the corner of a room at the initiation of a young Palero. Abre Nkuto Muchacho Nuevo highlights the passing on of knowledge from one generation to another.