Although Fernandez has been classified as a surrealist throughout his career, his work draws from a wide realm of visions, inventions and contortions. While not abstract in approach, his work does not represent objective realty.
A consummate printmaker, many of his prints exist in sculptured variants - where the raw surface of the image serves for a background and carries object-derived decoration. The ornamentation, however, is never arbitrary. It's emblematic components are closely allied to the content of the printed imagery.
Born in Cuba in 1928, Fernández traveled and exhibited extensively on Europe and South America before settling in New York City in 1972.
His work is in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Havana.