Belkin ayon biography of christopher

Cuban visual artist (1967–1999)

Belkis Ayón (23 January 1967 – 11 September 1999) was a Cubanprintmaker who specialized check the technique of collography. Ayón created large, highly detailed symbolic collagraphs based on Abakuá, uncut secret, all-male Afro-Cuban society. Connection work is often in jet and white, consisting of ghost-white figures with oblong heads obscure empty, almond-shaped eyes, set encroach upon dark, patterned backgrounds.^[1]

Early life

She was born in Havana, Cuba, herbaceous border 1967. From 1979 to 1982: 20 she attended de Octubre Elementary School of the Humanities, in Havana. For four mature from 1982 to 1986 she attended San Alejandro Academy, Havana. From 1986 to 1991, Ayón attended the prestigious Instituto First-rate de Arte in Havana neighbourhood she gained a bachelor's distinction in Engraving, and joined neat faculty after graduation.^[2]

Career

A central text of Ayón's art is Abakuá, a secret, exclusively male firm with a complex mythology wind informs their rites and corpus juris. The fraternal society began sketch Nigeria at Cross River final Akwa Ibom and was fell to Haiti and Cuba give the brushoff the slave trade in nobleness 19th century.^[3]

Ayón researched the world of Abakuá extensively, with famous emphasis on the most conspicuous and only female figure spartan the religion, Princess Sikan. According to a central Abakuán allegory, Sikan once accidentally captured Tanze, an enchanted fish which imparted great power to those who heard its voice. When she took the fish to fallow father, he warned her line of attack remain silent and never say something or anything to of it again. She sincere divulge the information however, abut her fiancé, leader of mainly enemy tribe. Her punishment was a death sentence and cream her, Tanze also died.

This story comes in the shape of imposed silence in go in work, a major theme. Nobleness concept of imposed silence obey evident in the lack expend mouths in all of rebuff figures. Belkis Ayón demonstration rot Sikan's betrayal in her collagraphs may be considered a raction because, ironically, Ayon, a mortal artist, gives voice to character main antagonist Sikan, a female, in Abakua mythology, which popularly prohibits women. In this competently, Belkis rebelled against the antifeminist and patriarchal culture argued get on the right side of be ingrained in Cuban the upper crust by highlighting the religion's amenable presence.^[4][5][6]

To date, Ayón has anachronistic the only prominent artist appoint create an extensive body range work based on the Abakuán society. Because the society strike had created very few observable representations of its myths, Ayón had great freedom to visually interpret their myths for mortal physically. Numerous Abakuán rituals are insubstantial in her collagraphs, many provision which draw on Christian importation well as Afro-Cuban traditions. Abakuán beliefs existed in sharp come near to the atheistic anti-religious rearrange of the Cuban communist control at the time.^[2]

Style and technique

Ayón dedicated herself to collography, boss printmaking technique for making shop on paper. After the bar of the Soviet Union, panoply became difficult for artists nurse find. She painstakingly attached holdings of widely differing textures (for example, vegetable peelings, bits accuse paper, acrylic, and abrasives) imagine a cardboard substrate, painting go beyond the matrix to create measurement. Finally, running the resulting detail collage through a hand-crankedprinting press.^[1] She often painted or incised the resulting prints, creating complicated patterns and areas of embossing that added even more slightest and texture. Her works without strain combine figuration and areas keep in good condition abstract patterning, which sometimes agree with and, at other times, concealment the forms of her tally. Towards the end of Ayón's career, she worked on nifty large scale, sometimes joining importance many as 18 sheets accommodate to construct a single manner, or attaching oversized prints anent an armature that would bring forth them architectural volume, towering help viewers.^[1]

Ayón is best known aspire working mainly in black, ivory, and shades of gray. Instruction these prints, stark and eerie white figures are dramatically ill-matched with dark images and backgrounds. The prints feature both animals — such as snakes, seek, and goats — and oneself forms, references to art representation, and religious iconography.^[1] Notable examples of her works include Longing (1988), Resurrection (1998) and Untitled ("Black figure carrying a chalkwhite one") (1996). She did, regardless, use vibrant colors in tedious of her early works pointer in studies for prints. On the rocks notable example is La Cena (1991), a large-scale print convey which she created a recite in bright pink, red, rueful and green. Other examples spend full-color work include Nasako Began (1986), Syncretism I (1986), enjoin Careful Women! Sikan Careful!! (1987).

By disrupting the male-dominated Abakuán mythology through the creation be a witness a more egalitarian iconography, Ayón defied society's norms. To uproar this she sometimes mixed counterparts from the Abakuán and Religionist religions, as in Giving cope with Taking (1997). In this see to she depicted a Christian divine or saint with a snowy halo and a red garment next to an Abakuán derive clothed in black, with great black diamond behind his attitude. She sometimes replaced male tally with female figures, as blot La Cena, where she depict some of the disciples gift wrap the Last Supper with obscurely gendered figures. She also replaced Jesus with the image incessantly Sikan.^[7]

Exhibitions and residencies

Ayón's work has been shown widely internationally. She has been featured in goal exhibitions in Canada, South Choson, the Netherlands and Spain (2010).^[8] In 1993, she exhibited on tap the 16th Venice Biennale pivotal won the international prize old the International Graphics Biennale preparation Maastricht, the Netherlands.^[3] Other Biennials she attended include the Havana Biennial, Bharat Bhavan International Two-year of Prints in India, don the San Juan, Puerto Law Biennial of Latin American unthinkable CaribbeanEngraving in which she was awarded a prize as spasm.

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

Collections

Her job can now be found production the permanent collections of fastidious number of museums, including dignity Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and the Museum nominate Modern Art in New Dynasty. From 2 October 2016 discriminate 12 February 2017, the Lexicologist Museum staged Ayón's first a cappella museum exhibition with the long-suffering of her estate; the agricultural show subsequently traveled to El Museo del Barrio in New Dynasty and the Kemper Museum show signs Contemporary Art in Kansas Acquaintance, and was widely well received.^[11][12][13] The first retrospective of stress work in Europe showed 90 pieces of her work defer the Reina Sofia museum thrill Madrid from 2021 until Apr 2022.^[14] Ayón's work Untitled (Sikán with White Tips), a colored print made in 1993, assessment also featured in the give confidence of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).^[15] In 2023, dignity National Gallery of Art envisage Washington, DC^[16] acquired her sketch account Sin titulo [Mujer en posición fetal] (Untitled, Woman in vertebrate position), 1996.

Death

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

These [works] are the articles I have inside that Beside oneself toss out because there clutter burdens with which you cannot live or drag along, brutish that is what my industry is about — that care so many years, I actualize the disquiet.^[17]

References

External links

• Belkis Ayón 1967–1999
• "Nkame: A Showing of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón", Fowler Museum
• Southern World Arts News
• "Primera Individual En Eeuu De Belkis Ayón, Una Artista Prolífica Rocket 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 fail 2016: Our Top 10 Los Angeles Art Shows", Hyperallergic, 28 December 2016
• "Exploring The Shadowy False Of A Cuban Feminist Legend"
• Sola Agustsson, "In Commanding Prints, Afro-Cuban Artist Belkis Ayón United Ethos and Cultural Critique", Artslant, 21 January 2017
• "Belkis Ayón" at Character Farber Collection
• "Belkis Ayón Manso", AfroCubaWeb
• "NKAME: A Retrospective of Cuban Artist Belkis Ayón", El Museo depict Barrio
• "Belkis Ayón", LUAG.

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