Cruz Bermudez is a Garifuna artist from Tela, Honduras. The Garifuan are an Afro-Caribbean people with communities along the north coast of Honduras, as well as Guatemela and Nicaragua. Cruz's paintings, currently on display at the AS220 Project Space with John Kotula's work, depict life in the traditional fishing village of Miami.
Cruz paints "recuerdos", mementos: paintings for tourists to remember their vacation by. But Cruz's paintings go beyond the typical tourist art. Cruz captures the lush Caribbean light and colors in his scenes of thatched huts, men fishing in dugout canoes, and brilliant sunsets. But he also captures the grittier day to day existence of fisherman laboring with thier nets, lighting up at day's end, and the tense moments before the start of a cock fight, where a the day's hard earn cash may be at stake.
The work exhibited at the AS220 Project Space is not for sale. John Kotula borrowed the work from friends that purchased them from Cruz while visiting John in Honduras. John met Cruz while serving in the Peace Corps and the two bonded over their shared love of art making. John relates a story of visiting Cruz in his home that is filled with paintings not for sale. Theses paintings are not "recuerdos", at least not the sort tourists would want to take home. These are paintings Cruz paints for himself, and his family, and friends. Take for instance the painting depicting a teachers' strike. The National Army is out in force. Streets are closed down and barricades are up but the teachers still hold classes in the park across from the school. The teachers quarrel is with the government that has slashed their wages not with children. So they continue to teach, to strike, and work towards a better future.
Since returning from the Peace Corps in 2007, John began teaching art at the East Bay Met School and in the fall of 2008 spent two weeks in Honduras with students in a "Learn and Serve" program. Called Project Sonaguera, students met and worked with Hondurans on civic projects to improve the local community. Planning is underway for future learn/serve trips to Honduras and as part of the fundraising, Cruz has agreed to have giclee prints sold in an edition of 100 of several paintings. Profits from the sales will be shared between the artist and the East Bay Met School.