The term postmodernist also may be applied to Bernal's diverse and complex body of work, specifically as he rejected the notion of the new in art, a characteristic imbued in postmodern theory.

He graduated from Normal Teachers College in 1945 and began teaching at a series of public and private schools in the province of Las Villas.

In 1961, during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Bernal was among the throngs of Cubans arrested for unpatriotic behavior, and was confined for eleven days in the gymnasium of the Marta Abreu University in Santa Clara.

Bernal confronted the need to support his family and, because of language barriers, became employed in a factory designing artistic materials for commercial purposes.

While in Cuba his palette did not reflect the brilliant, intense colors of his native land; but in Chicago he began to incorporate the tropical hues of his Caribbean homeland into his art.

The lucrative connection made it possible for Bernal to give up his job at Marshall Field's and return to school where he could pursue his dual dream of teaching and painting.

While warm wood, old newspaper print, tarnished metal, and antique objects produce an aura that absorbs the viewer and stirs archetypal images within his subconscious, some works, such as "Balancing the Unbalanced," in which a faucet is perceived as a faucet, invite the viewer to open the dialogue concerning substance and illusion, art and reality.