Canadian artist Amneris Fernandez was born in Santa Apolonia, Venezuela, in 1950. At the age of six years old, Fernandez’s mother noticed her son’s artistic gift and encouraged his growth as an artist. At eighteen years old, Fernandez moved to Caracas, Venezuela where he worked for one year as an elevator operator. During this time, he met Pascal Navarro— a Venezuelan arts master— who would invite Fernandez to perfect his artistic technique. In 1975, Fernandez moved to London, England, to attend the Saint Martin’s School of Fine Arts. In 1981, Fernandez returned to Venezuela to depict the lives of the native countrymen and of Venezuela’s independence heroes. In 1985, he won the first prize at the Annual Symposium of Fine Arts.
In 1988, he moved to Quebec and brought with him his experiences of South America; in particular, subject matter and colour. During his first year in Canada, Fernandez worked as a street artist in Old Montreal, painting portraits of people from all over the world. Shortly afterwards, he began to examine the indigenous peoples and animals of North America. As a result, his early work depicted the historical lives of various Indigenous groups and of the polar bear. More recently, Fernandez has explored surrealist images of motion, the human form and the elements. Fernandez currently resides in Quebec where he continues to dedicate his life to his art.
