Lili Bernard

ARTIST STATEMENT:
I create narrative artwork that chronicles the collision of cruelty against compassion. Autobiographical anecdotes intertwine with sociocultural struggles of my cosmopolitan Caribbean immigrant family and ancestors, mirrored in contemporary American life. Afro-Cuban religious iconography and history tether together survivorship stories of the past and present. The unconquerable nature of the human spirit reigns over the impact of trauma. Resistance and resilience resound in joy superseding suffering

BIO:
LILI BERNARD is a Cuban-born, Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist of mixed African, Caribbean, European and Chinese descent. Her work examines issues of sexism, racism, trauma and resilience. A mother of six whom she birthed in a ten-year span, Lili is an award-winning exhibiting fine artist, actor, published writer, independent curator, educator, community organizer, public speaker and founder of Art Roots Mambí and BAILA: Black Artists in Los Angeles.

Raised predominantly in Princeton, Jct., New Jersey, and a graduate of The American School in Japan where she spent 11th and 12th grade, Lili attended Cornell University and The City University of New York, earning a B.A. in German. She received her M...

MFA Otis College of Art and Design
BA City University of New York
Cornell University

2024
Arte Raíz Mambí, Taller Cultural, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
2022
The Phoenix Project 2022: Continuing the Dialogue from 1992. Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles, CA
2021
Coagula Editions, Coagula Curatorial Online, Los Angeles, CA
2020
Lili Bernard: Orishas Through Afro-Cuban American Eyes (solo show), stARTup Art Fair Los Angeles
2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested, Mujeres de Maíz, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
What She Said, ACE/121 Gallery, Glendale, CA
Viva La Vulva, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Breathe/Breath, SEER Gallery Ltd, Los Angeles, CA2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested, Mujeres de Maíz, Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
What She Said, ACE/121 Gallery, Glendale, CA
Viva La Vulva, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Breathe/Breath, SEER Gallery Ltd, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Goddesses and Gods, Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles, CA
Black Brown and Beige, Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
Some Blakkity Black Stuff, Kamikaze Pop-up, Los Angeles, CA
Care Complicity Critique, Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles, CA
2018
Viva La Vulva, Ren Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
South of the Border, Loft at Liz’s, Pacific Standard Time Getty Initiative Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA
Black Dreams Matter, The Whole 9 Gallery, Culve...