Hermes Berrio
Featured Artist
Exhibition Highlights
Exhibition Info
"I have always been drawn to these hidden, special places. Sometimes is just a small still life that holds the magic and nourishes the soul. Little River, an immigrant neighborhood where my studio is located in Miami is full of these beautiful moments. You can feel a story behind them all around you, Priceless, beautiful and unique. That is what I aim to convey with these works rendered by the utilization of materials ranging from oil pastels and spray-paint to up-cycled textiles and gold leaf, a celebration of our origins, converging as a cultural connection, that triggers an exploration of heritage. "
Hermes Berrio
Casa AmaCord is pleased to present works by Colombian artist Hermes Berrio. This body of work engages with the subjects of migration and memory. By the use of everyday objects, Berrio’s work strives to encapsulate moments in the lives of immigrants, which he then uses as a means to evoke heritage and the present context of this population.
Ever since moving to Miami, Hermes Berrio has honed inspiration by looking at the ordinary lives of people around him and rendering works that ponder on the significance of these lives. However, the complexity of Berrio’s work lies in its power to go far beyond a mere recording of Latin phenotypes and stereotypes. It offers insights into the identity and status of his subjects, whereby they can become idealised, or grounded in the reality of their lives as immigrants. Inviting us to look, study, and reflect on these very “layers of identity”,
Berrio’s work derives from his photography of regular people doing ordinary things. His subjects are predominantly immigrants from Latin American countries. This ever-changing population fuses Hispanic and Anglo-Saxon cultures, be it through a comical juxtaposition, objects in the street, or simply them, doing their job, or not doing their job. Hermes attains his rather urban style by employing a variety of mediums ranging from oils and aerosols to textiles and gold leaf, which he uses to re-imagine, re-arrange, and transform these photographs into whole new cultural and personal landscapes, marrying the mundane with the extraordinary.
The works presented aim to generate a transgression of borders that exalt Latin autonomy and bring the artists’ highly personal and powerful reflections on migration and heritage. Predominantly depicting objects made from the subject’s countries of origin or objects adopted from the US that have been implemented into their current lifestyle. Berrio’s works, lead us to a better understanding of the Latin-American foreigner, with all their strengths and vulnerabilities. These works invite a multiplicity of readings, the creation of vibrant narratives, and personal reflections on Hermes’ people and city.
