Born in Camaguey, Cuba in 1955, DEMI is one of the most critically acclaimed Cuban-American artists working in the United States. DEMI ’s primary subject matter is children. She depicts a vibrant and intimate universe centered around children, yet her vision is neither sugar-coated nor innocent. DEMI paints luminous and powerful children whose lives have been exposed to the vagaries of the adult world. She paints the big world through the eyes of small children. Her children are survivors.
DEMI has first-hand knowledge of the plight of children whose fates are altered by devastating events. Her father was executed in Castro’s Cuba when DEMI was still a child. Demi had to live in exile, eventually settling in Miami, where she later attended Miami-Dade College. DEMI is a sobriquet to indicate her life was cut in half by exile, and she emphasizes individuality and ambiguity by avoiding the use of a last name.
“I belong to a forgotten group – children of those executed in Cuba for political reasons,” the artist states. “Sons and daughters still too young of age to understand why we were confronted with death, separation, and loneliness. My paintings blossom from the inner depths of those childhood memories.”
In 1978, DEMI encountered Arturo Rodriguez, a gifted Cuban-American painter who became her life partner and artistic mentor, shaping her creative journey. Their marriage in 1984 marked the beginning of a collaborative artistic endeavor that continues to flourish in Miami.
DEMI deliberately employs a naïve style and paints mainly children. Her subjects are denuded, androgynous, unnaturally mature, and far from innocent, reflecting their precocious experiences, sometimes lacking ears (because they cannot hear), and with their mouths shut silent with giant pacifiers (because their voices cannot be heard). Although rooted in her personal history, these subjects are imaginary and universal, with powerful social and political overtones.
DEMI ’s work has been critically acclaimed throughout her artistic career spanning over 25 years. Her work is often used to raise awareness for children’s rights. The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art has collected DEMI ‘s primary records since 1998. In 2009, Demi was invited by Miguel Diaz, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, to exhibit her work in the U.S. Embassy Residence in Vatican City. DEMI ’s works have been published internationally and widely exhibited in museums and galleries in France, Italy, Switzerland, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 “DEMI – Tabula Rasa”, Aliona Ortega Fine Art, Miami, FL
“DEMI”, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C.
OAS / Organization of American States
2022 “DEMI, the Age of Innocence”, Cernuda Art Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
2019 Presentation of Art Book “DEMI”, Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida (January 9)
2016 DEMI in Paris: Selected Paintings, Art Paris, Paris, France
2015 MIA Gallery, Miami International Airport
“DEMI: In the Eyes of a Child”, Division of Fine Arts & Cultural Affairs: (August/October) Catalog
“DEMI: Speak Of Silent Things…” Under The Bridge Art Space, North Miami, Florida
(September/November) Catalog
2012 “DEMI: Paintings” ArteAmerica, Art Fair, (Cremata Gallery), Miami Beach, Florida (March)
DEMI: Drawings, and Mixed Media Sculptures, Cremata Gallery, Miami, Florida (March)
2011 DEMI: “One More Day on Earth” (Catalog), Salamatina Gallery, Long Island, New York
2008 “Beyond Frontiers”(Catalog), ArteAmerica Art Fair, Gomez Gallery),Miami Beach, Florida
2004 “Love and Life”-(Catalog), Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, Florida
2003 “Everything for Love” (Catalog), Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida
2002 Espacio 304 Gallery, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
“DEMI en San Juan” (Catalog)
2001 Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida
“DEMI: Family Portraits” (Catalog)
1999 Legacy Fine Art Gallery, Panama City, Panama
“DEMI” (Catalog)
1998 Dreitzer Gallery, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
“DEMI” (Catalog)
1997 “DEMI”, Americas Collection Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
1996 “DEMI”, Cecilia Coker Bell Gallery, Coker College, Hartville, South Carolina (Poster)
1994 “Crossing”, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Catalog)
“Two Views”, the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, Virginia
1993 “DEMI”, Gutierrez Fine Art Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida
1991 “DEMI: Recent Paintings”, M. Gutierrez Fine Art Gallery, Key biscayne, Florida
1987 “DEMI”, Cuban Museum of Arts & culture, Florida
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 Cuban Cultural Center of New York – XV Annual Congress
“El Arte en Cuba: Inside & Out, New York, New York
2014 Aluna Art Foundation, Mujeres al borde de una isla / Women at the Edge of an Island, Curated by Jesús Rosado and Ileana Fuentes, part of the Cuban Museum’s series Sweet Home: Museo Cubano, Miami, Florida
Art Paris Art Fair, Paris, France, Salamatina Gallery
Silicon Valley Contemporary art fair (April), San Jose, California, Salamatina Gallery
Art Monaco, Monaco, Salamatina Gallery
2011 “Contemporary Explorations”, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York
2010 U.S. Embassy Residence in Vatican City, Rome, Italy
“Art in Embassies Program Exhibit” (Catalog), a two and a half year long exhibit that shows American art and culture in countries where USA has embassies
2009 “Figurative Art – Past and Present” Highlights from the Permanent Collection”, Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida
2008 Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, “Unbroken Ties: dialogues in Cuban Art” (April)
2007 “Layers” (Catalog), Lehigh University Art Galleries, Worcester, PA
The Greenhouse Gallery, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
“Latin American Artists from Two Private Cleveland Collections”
“Diversidades Del Caribe al Sur”, Gomez Fine Art Galeria, San Juan, Puerto Rico
“A New Cornucopia” Florida Craftsmen, St. Petersburg, Florida (September)
“Collectiva Latino Americana”, Gomez Fine Art Galeria, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Art Miami art fair, Gomez Fine Art, Miami, Florida
2006 University at Buffalo Art Gallery, Amherst, New York
College of arts and Sciences, New York
“Layers: Collecting Cuban American Art ” (June- September)
“Diversidades Del Caribe al Sur”, Gomez Fine Art Galeria, San Juan, Puerto Rico (July)
“Cuban Americans and American Culture”, Center for the Arts, University of Buffalo, New York
The National Endowment for the Humanities exhibition and seminar
“Expressions of Art”, Ewing Gallery, the University of Tennessee
Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)
“The Family Experience”, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Catalog)
2005 Art and the Spiritual, South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, SC (Catalog)
Merill Lynch Art Week, Gomez Fine Art Galeria, San Juan Puerto Rico
“Thresholds”, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky (Catalog , January
McColl Center for Visual Arts, Charlotte, NC(Catalog)
“Expressions”, Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts, Owensboro, KY
“Art and the Sacred”, Guilford College Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC (Sept. 1- Oct. 23, 2005)
2004 “Expressions of Art”, City Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina (Catalog)
Traveling exhibit to Waterworks visual Arts Center, Salisbury, NC
Art Miami, Miami, FL (Catalog)
2003 “Four Artists”, Anthony Ardavin Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Art Miami, USA
2002 “38 Artistes Cubains”, Editart Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
Art Miami, Miami, FL (Catalog)
“Figurative Vignettes”, The Arts Center, St Petersburg, Florida
Traveling exhibit to:
Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Bellaire, Florida
City of Orlando, Public Art Program, Orlando, Florida
2001 “Twenty Cuban Artists from Here and There”, Cernuda Arte Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida (Catalog)
1998 “Loin de Cuba” (Far From Cuba), Des Tapisseries Museum, Aix-en-Provence, France (Catalog)
“Contemporary Cuban Art”, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida
1997 “Breaking Barriers”, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Catalog)
“The Female Figure”, Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida (Catalog)
“Identity and Identification”, Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery, Fairfield University, Connecticut
(Catalog) /
Traveling exhibit to:
“Identity and Identification”, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York
“Four Women Artists”, West Campus Art Gallery, Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL
1996 “Selections from Chroma”, The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida (Catalog)
“Traditions, Translations and Transformation”, West Campus Art Gallery, Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida
1994 “American Art Today: Heads Only”, The Art Museum, FIU, Miami, Florida, (Catalog)
“Chiaroscuro, A Contemporary Study of Light and Dark”, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, (Catalog)
“Arrested Childhood”, Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Florida (Catalog)
1993 “Chroma”, Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida (Catalog)
“Islands in the Stream”, Dowd Fine Arts, State University College, Cortland, NY (Catalog)
Florida Visual Art Fellowship: 1992-93”, Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Florida
Florida Visual Art Fellowship: 1992-93”, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida
“Women Artists in Latin America”, Americas Gallery, New York, New York.
“Storytelling”, Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Florida (Catalog)
“Self-portraits”, Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida.
1992 “Waking the Dream: Surrealist works by Florida Artists” Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida (Catalog)
“CUBA-USA: The First Generation”, Contemporary Art Museum, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
“Aqui: Arte Hispano en Orlando”, City of Orlando Art Museum, Orlando, Florida
“Still Life- A Visual Feast”, Metro Dade Cultural Center, Main Library, Miami, Florida
1991 “South Florida Collective I”, Frances Wolfson Art Gallery, MDC, Miami, FL (Catalog)
Chicago International Art fair, Chicago, Illinois.(Catalog)
“Miami Artists, fifty Years of Collecting”, Metro Dade Cultural Center, Main Library, Miami, FL
Miami International Art Expo, Miami Beach, Florida
“Art Against AIDS IV”, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida
“The Rage of Children”, Centre Gallery, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida (Catalog)
1989 “Latin American Art from Private Collections”, Inter-American Art gallery, MDC, Miami, Florida
“Art Against AIDS III”, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida
1988 “Know/Unknown II: Demi/Huergo”, Inter-American Art gallery, MDC, Miami, FL (Catalog)
“Portraits and Self-Portraits”, Cuban Museum of Arts & Culture, Miami, Florida
“Art Against AIDS II”, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida
1987 “New Works/New gallery”, Ground Zero gallery, Miami Beach, Florida
“The biggest book in the World”, Miami book fair International, Miami, Florida
1986 “Color and Spice”, Galeria Ocho, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida
PUBLIC COLLECTION
GRANTS/ AWARDS
2016 Nominated for Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Painters Fellowship
1998-1999 Florida Individual Artist Fellowship Award, Florida Department of State
1992-1993 Florida Individual Artist Fellowship Award, Florida Department of State
HONORS, PUBLICATIONS, ILLUSTRATIONS
1999-Present
Since 1999 the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, the world’s pre-eminent repository dedicated to collecting and preserving the papers and primary records of the visual arts in America, has been collecting DEMI’s primary records (correspondence, notebooks, drawings, photographs, catalogues).
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/demi-and-arturo-rodriguez papers-5536
Images of her paintings have been included in the prestigious Feminist Art Base of the Brooklyn Museum Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. (2012)
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/feminist_art_base/demi
2009, Invited personally by the US Ambassador to The Holy See, Miguel Diaz, to display painting titled “Two Artists and Their Children of Their Imagination” in their US Embassy residence in Vatican City. for 2 1/2 years) ( as part of the ART IN EMBASSIES PROGRAM (AIEP))
http://art.state.gov/artistdetail.aspx?id=165292
Poster for The League against Cancer in Celebration of 32 years of Service in the State of Florida (June 2007)
Poster for the University of Miami, Child Protection Team (Simposium1995)
DEMI in group show at Nassau County Museum of Art, New York
http://nassaumuseum.com/exhibits_exploraciones_contemporaneas.php
Smithsonian‘s Archives of American Art
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/demi-and-arturo-rodrguez-papers-5536
DEMI / Drawings
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=109548
https://art.state.gov/personnel/demi_/
