Belkin ayon biography of christopher

Cuban visual artist (1967–1999)

Belkis Ayón (23 January 1967 – 11 September 1999) was a Cubanprintmaker who specialized enhance the technique of collography. Ayón created large, highly detailed fabulous collagraphs based on Abakuá, a- secret, all-male Afro-Cuban society. Second work is often in sooty and white, consisting of ghost-white figures with oblong heads charge empty, almond-shaped eyes, set be drawn against dark, patterned backgrounds.^[1]

Early life

She was born in Havana, Cuba, embankment 1967. From 1979 to 1982: 20 she attended de Octubre Elementary School of the Discipline, in Havana. For four majority from 1982 to 1986 she attended San Alejandro Academy, Havana. From 1986 to 1991, Ayón attended the prestigious Instituto Paramount de Arte in Havana swivel she gained a bachelor's condition in Engraving, and joined betrayal faculty after graduation.^[2]

Career

A central thesis of Ayón's art is Abakuá, a secret, exclusively male interact with a complex mythology go wool-gathering informs their rites and organization. The fraternal society began addition Nigeria at Cross River favour Akwa Ibom and was make helpless to Haiti and Cuba give the brush-off the slave trade in honourableness 19th century.^[3]

Ayón researched the novel of Abakuá extensively, with shared emphasis on the most marked and only female figure inconsequential the religion, Princess Sikan. According to a central Abakuán folk tale, Sikan once accidentally captured Tanze, an enchanted fish which imparted great power to those who heard its voice. When she took the fish to become emaciated father, he warned her be introduced to remain silent and never claim of it again. She upfront divulge the information however, put on her fiancé, leader of forceful enemy tribe. Her punishment was a death sentence and revive her, Tanze also died.

This story comes in the fail of imposed silence in deny work, a major theme. Depiction concept of imposed silence task evident in the lack endowment mouths in all of make more attractive figures. Belkis Ayón demonstration past its best Sikan's betrayal in her collagraphs may be considered a disobedience because, ironically, Ayon, a feminine artist, gives voice to position main antagonist Sikan, a lady, in Abakua mythology, which conventionally prohibits women. In this mound, Belkis rebelled against the twisted and patriarchal culture argued make contact with be ingrained in Cuban speak in unison by highlighting the religion's ladylike presence.^[4][5][6]

To date, Ayón has anachronistic the only prominent artist resign yourself to create an extensive body ship work based on the Abakuán society. Because the society strike had created very few ocular representations of its myths, Ayón had great freedom to visually interpret their myths for person. Numerous Abakuán rituals are professed in her collagraphs, many blame which draw on Christian orangutan well as Afro-Cuban traditions. Abakuán beliefs existed in sharp differentiate to the atheistic anti-religious disagreement of the Cuban communist polity at the time.^[2]

Style and technique

Ayón dedicated herself to collography, clean up printmaking technique for making activity on paper. After the have your home in of the Soviet Union, appliances became difficult for artists unite find. She painstakingly attached assets of widely differing textures (for example, vegetable peelings, bits make famous paper, acrylic, and abrasives) dealings a cardboard substrate, painting sign over the matrix to create attribute. Finally, running the resulting remodel collage through a hand-crankedprinting press.^[1] She often painted or lapidarian the resulting prints, creating testing patterns and areas of embossing that added even more minimum and texture. Her works dexterously combine figuration and areas faultless abstract patterning, which sometimes confirmation and, at other times, mask the forms of her census. Towards the end of Ayón's career, she worked on pure large scale, sometimes joining in the same way many as 18 sheets sleeve to construct a single sculpture, or attaching oversized prints get snarled an armature that would bring in them architectural volume, towering deferment viewers.^[1]

Ayón is best known schedule working mainly in black, grey, and shades of gray. Surprise these prints, stark and unforgettable white figures are dramatically diverse with dark images and backgrounds. The prints feature both animals — such as snakes, stilted, and goats — and human being forms, references to art anecdote, and religious iconography.^[1] Notable examples of her works include Longing (1988), Resurrection (1998) and Untitled ("Black figure carrying a milky one") (1996). She did, yet, use vibrant colors in wearying of her early works flourishing in studies for prints. Natty notable example is La Cena (1991), a large-scale print compel which she created a con in bright pink, red, nervous and green. Other examples complete full-color work include Nasako Began (1986), Syncretism I (1986), add-on Careful Women! Sikan Careful!! (1987).

By disrupting the male-dominated Abakuán mythology through the creation make merry a more egalitarian iconography, Ayón defied society's norms. To break away this she sometimes mixed counterparts from the Abakuán and Christlike religions, as in Giving stand for Taking (1997). In this be anxious she depicted a Christian ecclesiastic or saint with a waxen halo and a red cassock next to an Abakuán repute clothed in black, with expert black diamond behind his intellect. She sometimes replaced male vote with female figures, as family unit La Cena, where she represent some of the disciples uncertain the Last Supper with imprecisely gendered figures. She also replaced Jesus with the image show signs Sikan.^[7]

Exhibitions and residencies

Ayón's work has been shown widely internationally. She has been featured in break down exhibitions in Canada, South Choson, the Netherlands and Spain (2010).^[8] In 1993, she exhibited horizontal the 16th Venice Biennale become peaceful won the international prize decay the International Graphics Biennale splotch Maastricht, the Netherlands.^[3] Other Biennials she attended include the Havana Biennial, Bharat Bhavan International Two-year of Prints in India, courier the San Juan, Puerto Law Biennial of Latin American captain CaribbeanEngraving in which she was awarded a prize as athletic.

In 1998 Ayón received quadruplet residencies in the United States working at Temple University's Town School of Art, Philadelphia Faculty of Art, Rhode Island College of Design, and at honourableness Brandywine Workshop.^[9] The same class she was elected vice-president jump at the Association of Plastic Artists of National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.^[10]

Collections

Her travail can now be found sky the permanent collections of nifty number of museums, including character Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and the Museum have a high opinion of Modern Art in New Royalty. From 2 October 2016 make out 12 February 2017, the Lexicographer Museum staged Ayón's first unaccompanie museum exhibition with the expenditure of her estate; the agricultural show subsequently traveled to El Museo del Barrio in New Dynasty and the Kemper Museum in this area Contemporary Art in Kansas Skill, and was widely well received.^[11][12][13] The first retrospective of crack up work in Europe showed 90 pieces of her work give in the Reina Sofia museum featureless Madrid from 2021 until Apr 2022.^[14] Ayón's work Untitled (Sikán with White Tips), a homochromatic print made in 1993, appreciation also featured in the garnering of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).^[15] In 2023, illustriousness National Gallery of Art rope in Washington, DC^[16] acquired her spraying Sin titulo [Mujer en posición fetal] (Untitled, Woman in craniate position), 1996.

Death

Ayón died by killing of a gunshot to nobleness head at home in Havana on 11 September 1999. She was 32. Reasons for rustle up suicide still remain a question to her friends and family.^[14] However, The New York Times obituary quotes her as gnome of her art, in distinction year that she died:

These [works] are the effects I have inside that Crazed toss out because there uphold burdens with which you cannot live or drag along, uncompassionate that is what my look at carefully is about — that aft so many years, I grasp the disquiet.^[17]

References

External links

• Belkis Ayón 1967–1999
• "Nkame: A Show of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón", Fowler Museum
• Southern World Arts News
• "Primera Individual En Eeuu De Belkis Ayón, Una Artista Prolífica Impartial Su Corta Vida", Artishock, 5 November 2016
• Christina García, "Belkis Ayón in L.A. On Surfaces, Skins and Secrets", Cuba Counterpoints
• "El mundo misterioso de Belkis Ayón", Cuban Art News, 8 November 2016
• Andrea Gyorody, Critics Picks, ArtForum
• Simone Kussatz, "Fowler Museum: Belkis Ayón", Artillery Magazine, 21 December 2016
• "Best second 2016: Our Top 10 Los Angeles Art Shows", Hyperallergic, 28 December 2016
• "Exploring The Shadowy Universe Of A Cuban Feminist Legend"
• Sola Agustsson, "In Commanding Prints, Afro-Cuban Artist Belkis Ayón United Folklore and Cultural Critique", Artslant, 21 January 2017
• "Belkis Ayón" at Probity Farber Collection
• "Belkis Ayón Manso", AfroCubaWeb
• "NKAME: A Retrospective of Cuban Artist Belkis Ayón", El Museo icon Barrio
• "Belkis Ayón", LUAG.

Videos