Dragon, Crab, and Turtle is pleased to announce, “Arts and Crafts” Khalifa Jdia- Bernhardt’s debut exhibition. Jdia-Bernhardt states that “all of my work is about exploring,” he shares his experiences and views of the world differently than most his age. This exploration echoes his adventurous life, lucky to be traveling the world and seeing art. His works are displayed in horizontal and vertical lines, each from different times of his life all made in the studio not at school. Paintings about the architecture in Brasilia Brazil, others made in Puerto Rico, New York, and his most recent from his time in St. Louis, MO. Jdia-Bernhardt references the Earth, sports, and the environment. Included in this exhibition is a glitter work made at the age of four. His curiosity and experimentation lead him to work with non-traditional mediums like glitter and dye “he works with what he has” he says, “I can do so many things with color.”  

 

There is a calm in the chaos layered brush marks in his more recent monochromatic paintings. We can’t help but think of storms and their destruction when he explains that they are about the environment. One painting, with a simple black horizonal line surrounded in color, plays with the gesture of a Pokéball — from the artist’s beloved collection of Pokémon cards. Jdia-Bernhardt’s intimate black and white paintings step back from color and seem to reference calligraphy, possibly from his visit to Japan. Painted with watered down black acrylic, he zooms in on parts of objects that they become abstracted lines in their simplest form. Jdia-Bernhardt’s diptych of a moment of a player kicking a soccer ball, Jdia-Bernhardt’s favorite sport, entices one to think of time and motion from one work to the next. He has always been around painting and in the studio, which is perhaps why he is always painting or making something. 

 

Khalifa Jdia-Bernhardt was born in April of 2011 in New York City, NY and currently lives in St. Louis, MO. Some of his favorite artists are Katherine Bernhardt, Leonardo DaVinci, Kathy Bradford, Jose Luis Vargas, Edvard Munch, and Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori — who illustrate for the Pokémon card game. Even though influenced by anime and Japanese art, especially the 2016 Pikachu Pokémon card, he doesn’t make anime. 

 

“Arts and Crafts” will open Saturday, November 6th, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm CST.

 

Please e-mail dragoncrabandturtle@gmail.com to make an appointment.