A watercolour portrait of Bendel Hydes, Cayman’s ‘founding father’ of contemporary art, overlays a road map of George Town and West Bay, where Hydes inspired generations of Caymanian artists.
The tribute from British-born Caymanian artist John Broad is one of many shared this week by local artists honouring Hydes, who died this month at the age of 71.
Artists, collaborators and fans shared stories, photos and art to express the impact Hydes had on the islands.
Broad’s portrait, described as a “RoadMap memory of Bendel Hydes” on his social media pages, depicts the face of Hydes in his younger years over the streets of Grand Cayman, from downtown George Town to West Bay Road.
“I weave cultural images into the web of the map using watercolours,” Broad told the Cayman Compass.
“The image usually has a connection to the roads and streets. You have to strike a balance between the map and the watercolour painting.”
He added, “My maps only show developments up until the late ’90s as a lot has happened since then.”
Broad said he remembers Hydes as “a thoughtful, intelligent artist”.
“I attended the workshops he taught at the Harquail Theatre. [He] taught me to follow my passion and what stood out was that a Caymanian from West Bay could rise to the heights of the New York art scene,” he said.
The road map painting is part of a series on Caymanian culture and heritage plotted on location cartography by the prolific painter, who has spent more than three decades capturing a multitude of Cayman people, places and pastimes.
Inspiration
Poet, storyteller and visual artist Nasaria Suckoo Chollette recalled to the Compass how Hydes inspired many generations of Caymanian creatives.
“I will never forget the day I ran into Bendel randomly on the New York subway. I had taken my drama students to see Broadway shows and suddenly there he was. To me, Bendel was the big celebrity for Caymanian art,” she said.
“I hollered with excitement, while my students looked at me like I had gone bonkers, but by the end of the introductions, they were just as elated as I was at having met him. One of those young people said to me, ‘He made it in New York, then I can too’.”
Artist and poet Gordon Solomon noted, “He was as unique as his art.”
“When I met him, the impression I got was he believed in [originality], and his disposition was a part of him becoming an artist. He was totally original.”
Emerging contemporary Caymanian painter John Reno Jackson said, “Bendel’s impact on the perception of painting, especially abstraction, cannot be understated. Without his decades of work and dedication, the field of painting would not be what it is today in the Cayman Islands.
Jackson added, “Bendel Hydes has inspired not only my career, but the career of many other young artists. His legacy and work will live on and tell the tale of what it means to be Caymanian.”
Harris McCoy, former chairman of the Cayman Islands National Museum and past board member of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, said Hydes’ level of self-respect and moral conviction were paramount.
“Any day out with Bendel was an adventure. He saw the world differently but was always a West Bayer and Caymanian to the core. Bendel was never a sell-out or hobby artist and quite often he truly didn’t realise how much Cayman appreciated his genius,” McCoy recalled.
He added, “the last time I had lunch with Bendel home, the restaurant owner came over and started a lengthy conversation about Bendel’s work, an almost hero worship dance of adoration.”
McCoy continued, “Bendel kept trying to break away from it to read the menu, [which was] now a challenge with his eyesight. Finally, I interjected that we needed to eat. In true Bendel style, [he said to me]. ‘Harris you arranged that didn’t you?’ I hadn’t, but that was the humble nature of Bendel. Often he truly couldn’t believe Cayman did see him in that bright shade of celebrated orange.
“Take flight you gentle, brilliant soul and hopefully Cayman will someday love itself as much as you deep down did love home.”
Al Ebanks has also put paint to canvas in a touching tribute. The 22” x 22” acrylic painting is among several pieces by Ebanks forming part of a series ‘Portraits of an Artist’ inspired by creative people and artists in Cayman Islands.
Ebanks told the Compass he was always motivated by Hydes.
“Over the years, he’d visit Cayman from New York and I used to engage with him through workshops held. As an artist growing up in Cayman, we never really had anyone to look up to … and we weren’t really taught to appreciate art. [Art] was something that came natural for me because all my life I’ve been painting and stuff like that, but he was always motivating for me,” he said.
The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, which is home to several of Hydes’ pieces, announced his passing on 11 June. In addition to that tribute, the Cayman National Cultural Foundation took to social media to express condolences.
About the artist
Bendel Hydes, a native of West Bay, was universally celebrated as the founding father of Caymanian art, being the first Caymanian to acquire formal fine art training and the first to receive international acclaim for his work, while also helping to co-found both the Cayman National Cultural Foundation and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. Hydes studied at Liverpool College of Art and Canterbury College of Art in England and subsequently received his bachelor of arts degree from Clark University in the United States in 1976.
During the course of his career, he mounted solo exhibitions at the Commonwealth Institute, London and the 23rd International Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including ‘Caribbean Art’ and ‘A-Z of Caribbean Art’. Hydes’ work was included in two of the most prestigious surveys of Caribbean art of the past three decades: Carib Art (1995-96) and Caribbean Visions: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture (1995-98), which travelled to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Works by Hydes are held in the collections of the Cayman Islands National Museum and the Cayman Islands National Archive, as well as in private collections both locally and internationally.
Solo exhibitions at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands include Soundings in Fathoms (2003), Circumnavigating the Globe (2012) and Bendel Hydes- A Retrospective (2019)— the latter a comprehensive survey of the artist’s fifty-year career. Additionally, Hydes work has featured in numerous group exhibitions at NGCI, including: Founded Upon the Seas (2012), Metamorphoses (2014), Upon the Seas (2017), Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019), Tropical Visions (2019), Saltwater in their Veins – A National Gallery Permanent Collection Exhibition (2020), The People’s Collection – A 25-Year Cultural Legacy (2022), The Ties that Bind: A Journey through the National Collection (2022), 81° West: Cartographic Explorations in Contemporary Caymanian Art (2023) and Thatch Roofs & Ironwood Posts: The Art and Artistry of the Caymanian Home (2024).
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