Demi (born 1955) also known as Demi Rodríguez, is a Cuban-born American visual artist, known for her paintings of children.
She lives in
Miami, Florida.
Biography
She was born on October 6, 1955, in
Camagüey
Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.
It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...
,
Camagüey Province, Cuba.
Demi is not her name from birth, however she primarily uses the
mononym for her work.
When she was young her father was executed in Cuba for political reasons.
At the age of 6 she was sent to
Puerto Rico to live with relatives she had not previously met.
In 1971, Demi moved to Florida to join her family.
She attended
Miami Dade Community College (now Miami Dade College), and received an A.A. degree.
In her early career she worked as a
bookkeeper.
In 1984, Demi married artist
Arturo Rodríguez, whom she had met in 1978 at the former Meeting Point Gallery in Miami.
Demi started painting in 1984 by learning from Arturo, and she began exhibiting her art in 1987.
Her art primarily focuses on the portraits of children, often shown in situations that are trapping.
She uses her practice to raise awareness for children’s rights.
Her artwork is in public museum collections, including the
Lowe Art Museum,
Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale
The NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is an art museum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Originating in 1958 as the ''Fort Lauderdale Art Center'', the museum is now located in an modernist building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. The current buildin ...
,
Gulf Coast Museum of Art
The Gulf Coast Museum of Art was located at 12211 Walsingham Road, Largo, Florida. It housed contemporary Florida art in the permanent collection.Gulf Coast Museum of Art"Permanent Collection" ''Gulf Coast Museum of Art website'', 2007. Retriev ...
, the
Frost Art Museum,
Tampa Museum of Art, and the
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...
.
She is one of the featured artists of
Feminist Art Base
The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is located on the fourth floor of the Brooklyn Museum, New York City, United States. Since 2007 it has been the home of Judy Chicago's 1979 installation, ''The Dinner Party''.
History
The Elizabeth ...
at the Brooklyn Museum.
See also
*
List of Cuban artists
Below is a list of Cuban artists (in alphabetical order by last name) includes artists of various genres, who are notable and are either born in Cuba, of Cuban descent or who produced works that are primarily about Cuba.
A
*Agustín Drake Aldam ...
*
List of Cuban women artists
References
External links
Demi and Arturo Rodríguez papers, circa 1957-2016 from Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Oral history interview with Arturo Rodríguez, 2020 August 26 from Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
* Video
In the Artist's Studio with Demi(2020), NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, via
YouTube
{{Authority control
1955 births
Living people
Miami Dade College alumni
Cuban emigrants to the United States
20th-century Cuban painters
21st-century Cuban painters
20th-century Cuban women artists
21st-century Cuban women artists
20th-century American women artists
21st-century American women artists
20th-century American painters
21st-century American painters
People from Camagüey