A celebration of life event was held at Harquail Theatre on Saturday for Caymanian art pioneer Bendel Hydes, who many regard as the founding father of contemporary Caymanian art. Hydes died in June at the age of 72.
In the theatre that Hydes helped to found, and against the backdrop of the artist’s popular paintings, family, friends, members from government and the creative community gathered to remember the cultural icon, share memories and reflect on his life and work over the years.
An artist of extraordinary talent
Acknowledging Hydes’s contributions to the development of Cayman’s cultural infrastructure over the past 40 years, Minister of Culture Dwayne Seymour said, “He was an artist of extraordinary talent, and a man ahead of his time in Cayman.”
Along with playing a critical part in co-founding several institutions, he also nurtured “Cayman’s next generation of young artist, dancers and musicians”.
“His art speaks where words are unable to explain. He touched our souls and left an indelible mark,” Seymour said.
“As well as contributing at home, Bendel often carried the torch for Caymanian culture internationally, travelling to Barbados in 1981 to represent his homeland at Carifesta IV – one of Cayman’s first cultural contingents – and subsequently participating in several pivotal exhibitions of Caribbean art during the 1990s and 2000s. He later served a Cultural Attaché to the Cayman Islands Government and participated in over 100 events at home and abroad.”
A life painted with vibrant hues
Saturday’s memorial included laughs and artistic puns as attendees relished in their fondest memories of Hydes. In a tribute from the family, Tristan Hydes said Bendel’s journey through life was “a masterpiece in itself”.
“We were not just siblings but participants in a life painted with vibrant hues of creativity, adversity and resilience. As an artist, Bendel was truly a visionary. His work transcended past the canvas, capturing the essence of his experiences, especially those with us growing up together in Cayman,” he said.
“Each piece he created was a window into his soul, a testament to his unyielding passion and unique perspective. As a mentor, he was a guiding light for many aspiring Caymanian artists. He shared his knowledge with generosity, always nursing talent, and inspiring confidence in those who were fortunate enough to learn from him.”
The family shared, “As a brother, Bendel touched each of us in some unique way. He had an uncanny ability to see the world in ways others couldn’t. Always challenging us to look beyond the surface and appreciate the beauty in the details. His laughter and imagination were infectious and his love for family and fun unwavering.
“Bendel’s spirit was as dynamic as his art. When Bendel was diagnosed with PSP [Progressive supranuclear palsy], he put up a determined fight, his attitude unwavering. His legacy lives on in the strokes of his paintings, and in the memories we cherish.”
‘A creative trailblazer’
Natalie Urquhart, director of Cayman National Cultural Foundation and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands Boards, said Hydes’s importance in developing Caymanian art, in particular the visual arts in the Cayman Islands, could not be stated enough.
Urquhart noted his life story, his creative art journey and notable achievements, including being the first Caymanian to attend formal art school, the first to represent Cayman at significant art events overseas, the first to receive critically acclaimed international accolades as a professional artist, and so many other firsts throughout his career.
With Hydes, whose work and career spanned over half a century of creativity, Urquhart noted, “We have lost an artist of extraordinary skill, but we have also lost a friend, a brilliant conversationalist, an advisor and a colleague.”
She continued, “His lifetime body of work is informed by an endless spirit of discovery and deep ties to home, and it forms the basis of a remarkable legacy. It will continue to inform the creativity that we interpret in how we see our island home and culture and also sets the bar for artistic excellence long into the future. It will continue to serve as an inspiration for much creativity to come.”
‘He is truly an icon’
J. A. Roy Bodden, author and cultural historian, during his tribute from the creative community, noted Hydes “has not only distinguished himself by the art he’s left behind but by the fact that he was a bold soul because he forced us to look outside the comfort zone of 9-to-5 and believing that all life was drudgery in the office, and so as great as his legacy and repertoire of paintings are, he has an equally great legacy in that he forced us into an appreciation of the arts, the visual, creative, the other arts.”
“There was an enigmatic element to Bendel. He was a brave soul, not afraid to step out and to take risks and I suppose in that it was a bit of the Caymanian seafaring character in him which comes out in so many of his paintings. You can feel proud that Bendel Hydes is truly an icon, and he has left behind footsteps for those of us to follow, especially those of us who consider ourselves cultural artists,” Bodden said.
‘He was a very special person’
Other members from the creative community reflected on the life and work of Hydes, including Frank McField, playwright and co-founder of The Inn Theatre, who said, Hydes’s work goes “beyond the boundaries of society”.
“We were trying to create a multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-ethnic thought of theatre movement. That was the vision and Bendel understood, he joined it, and he promoted it … I thank God that what he’s left us would be proof of his commitment,” McField said.
As he returned a painting by Hydes back to the theatre, McField added, “I used to think Bendel was Alexander the Great to me. He was a very special person; he had a charisma that was really incredible.”
Poet Leonard Dilbert said, “Not just for West Bay, but for Cayman … we lost a lighthouse when we lost Bendel Hydes.”
“The creative sparks flew whenever we were in conversation. It was partly due to an intuition each one of us had of what the other was about. We knew where we came from, and we shared that simultaneously thrilling and unsettling feeling of being two West Bayers turn loose on the big wide world with the peculiar hunger of artists,” Dilbert said.
“Bendel was a peaceable man, but that does not mean he would compromise easy if at all … I salute you Bendel for your beauty and your truth.”
Overseas tributes came from Geoff Cresswell, co-founder of the Inn Theatre and founding artistic director of CNCF; Anita Ebanks, co-founder of the Inn Theatre and founding director of the National Museum; Carol Owen, founding chairperson of NGCI, Leslie Bigelman, founding director of NGCI; and Susan A. Olde, board member of the CNCF and NGCI, former chairperson of NGCI.
The service also included remarks from Minister for Heritage Isaac Rankine, remarks from Lorna Reid, chairperson of CNCF, a creative interlude featuring a poem by Carl Brown, chairperson of NGCI, a poem by Maureen Cresswell, a short film by Sands Ltd., and a performance of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ by violinist Kate Knox and musician Beneil Miller.
A reception and launch of Bendel Hydes’s ‘Circumnavigating the Globe’ exhibition followed the service.
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