Transcultural Pilgrim

Jose Bedia is an artist, practitioner, and devotee whose work emanates from his diverse and often systematic religious journeys, experiences, and encounters. Transcultural Pilgrim invites the reader into Bedia's spiritual worlds, which range from his Cuban birthplace to Central Africa and to the indigenous Americas, as revealed in his distinctive and frequently autobiographical visual language. The power and immediacy of Bedia's large-scale paintings and drawings and the material complexity of his installations immediately draw the viewer into his work. Judith Bettelheim and Janet Catherine Berlo have worked closely with Bedia for years, studying his journeys and their complex representations in his art, as well as the ethnographic collections which inspire him. Judith Bettelheim is professor of art history emerita at San Francisco State University. Janet Catherine Berlo is professor of art history and visual and cultural studies at the University of Rochester. Other contributors include Jose Bedia, Lauren Derby, Orlando Hernandez, and Alan Varela.