Belkis Ayon
91.4 x 66 cm
Further images
The entity's form cascades into a visceral entanglement of serpentine limbs and proliferating flora, suggesting a rebirth from decay, where human anatomy merges with vegetative resurgence in a metaphor for cyclical resurrection and the indomitable persistence of cultural memory against erasure. Beneath this apparition, three faceless devotees raise their arms in ecstatic or anguished supplication, their bodies inscribed with botanical motifs and explosive emblems that echo the central figure's chaos, evoking the tension between collective devotion and individual dissolution within Abakuá's esoteric rites.
Ayón's monochromatic palette amplifies the work's psychological intensity, drawing viewers into a liminal space where gender binaries dissolve, and themes of exile, return, and silenced voices resonate, reflecting her own position as an outsider reimagining male-dominated lore through a lens of feminist inquiry and existential inquiry. This edition is numbered IV/VI and corresponds to Edition 4 of the second printing, produced in 1994, signed "Belkis Ayon Manso, Siempre Vuelvo, 1994."
Provenance
Estudio Belkis Ayon > Collection of Joel H. Meyers & Gail Gelburd, Massachusetts > Catalogue Raisonné - NKAME mafimba - Page 257Exhibitions
“Evidencias de vindicación (Belkis Ayón, Isary Paulet, Ibrahim Miranda),” Centro de Arte 23 y 12, Havana, Cuba, 1993.
“Siempre Vuelvo. Grabados de Belkis Ayón,” Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño, Havana, Cuba, 1993 (Title exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Siempre Vuelvo,” Galleria Colorenero, Milan, Italy, 1994 (Title exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Siempre Vuelvo. Exposición personal Belkis Ayón,” Galería GRAU, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Cienfuegos, Cuba, 1995 (Title exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Unterstütze Mich, halte Mich hoch, im Schemerz,” Kirche St. Barbara, Breinig, Germany, 1995.
“Unterstütze Mich, halte Mich hoch, im Schemerz,” Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany, 1995.
“Belkis Ayón, artiste cubaine,” Galerie Bourbon-Lally, Pétionville, Haiti, 1996.
“Two Contemporary Cuban Artists: Belkis Ayón and Nelson Domínguez,” Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, United States, 1996.
“Cuba Kunst Heute,” Staatlichen Kurhaus, Bad Steben, Germany, 1997.
“Ángel Ramírez + Belkis Ayón. The New Wave of Cuban Art – I,” Gallery GAN, Tokyo, Japan, 1997.
“Grand Pas de Trois. Sexta Bienal de La Habana (Norberto Marrero, Belkis Ayón y Juan Carlos Menéndez),” Estudio privado, Havana, Cuba, 1997.
“Desasosiego / Restlessness,” Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, California, United States, 1998.
“Bernardo Marqués / Belkis Ayón,” Havana Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland, 1998.
“Belkis Ayón / Elsa Mora. Recent Work,” Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, New York, United States, 1998.
“Belkis Ayón + Ángel Ramírez. The New Wave of Cuban Art – II,” Gallery GAN, Tokyo, Japan, 1998.
“Rites. Photographies de René Peña; collographies de Belkis Ayón,” Galerie Bourbon-Lally, Pétionville, Haiti, 1999.
“Siempre Vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón. Exposición homenaje,” Galería Habana (collateral to the 7th Havana Biennial), Havana, Cuba, 2000 (Title homage exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Imágenes desde el silencio. Colografías y matrices de Belkis Ayón,” Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba, 2001.
“Para un regreso. Colografías de Belkis Ayón,” Fundación Caguayo, Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 2001.
“Kunst aus Kuba, Sammlung Ludwig / Art from Cuba, The Ludwig Collection,” Russischen Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2002.
“Belkis Ayón. La Huella Múltiple,” Galería La Casona, Havana, Cuba, 2002.
“Belkis Ayón Early Work,” Patricia Doran Graduate Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2003.
“Resurrection. Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) Collographs from Cuba,” Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 2003–2004.
“Siempre Vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón,” Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004 (Title exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Reencuentro. Exposición de Belkis Ayón y sus alumnos,” Galería José Antonio Díaz Peláez, Academia de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, Havana, Cuba, 2004.
“Siempre Vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón,” Galería de Arte de Colón, Matanzas, Cuba, 2005 (Title exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Siempre Vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón,” Galería Provincial de Arte de Villa Clara, Santa Clara, Cuba, 2005 (Title exhibition; the work served as the central piece.)
“Belkis Regresa. Colografías de Belkis Ayón,” Galería de Arte Ranchuelo, Ranchuelo, Villa Clara, Cuba, 2006.
“El desafío de la permanencia. Exposición antológica de Belkis Ayón (1967-1999),” Galería “Pedro Esquerré”, CPAV, Matanzas, Cuba, 2006.
“Belkis Ayón Origen de un mito,” Galería Villa Manuela, Havana, Cuba, 2006.
“Belkis Ayón,” Museo Ludwig, Udmurtia Republic, Russian Federation, 2007.
“El museo que vive,” San Francisco Art Institute, Walter & McBean Galleries, San Francisco, California, United States, 2007.
“Nkame. Belkis Ayón: A Retrospective,” Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 2008 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. Belkis Ayón: A Retrospective,” Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York, United States, 2009 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. Belkis Ayón (1967-1999),” Convento de San Francisco de Asís, Havana, Cuba, 2009 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. Belkis Ayón: A Retrospective,” Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba, 2010 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
"Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul", by Gail Gelburd, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT, Sep. 2009 - Feb. 2010, and illustrated inthe accompanying catalog, pages 48.
"Ajiaco: Stirrings of theCuban Soul", Dr. Gail Gelburd, Curator, Paul and Lulu Hilliard University ArtMuseum, University of Louisiana atLafayette, July - Nov. 2010.
"Ajiaco: Stirrings of theCuban Soul", Dr. Gail Gelburd, Curator,at the Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, August 2011.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Fowler Art Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States, 2016–2017 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” El Museo del Barrio, New York, New York, United States, 2017 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. Belkis Ayón: A Retrospective,” Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 2017 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, United States, 2018 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, United States, 2018 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” SMoCA (Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art), Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, 2018–2019 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 2020 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, United States, 2021 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
“34th São Paulo Biennale: Faz escuro mas eu canto,” Pabellón Ciccillo Matarazzo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2021 (Included works by Belkis Ayón, with Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 represented in the context of the retrospective selection.)
“Belkis Ayón. Colografías,” Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, 2021–2022 (curated by Cristina Vives) (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a foundational collograph.)
“Belkis Ayón. Ya Estamos Aquí,” Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 2022–2023 (Included Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as a key early work.)
Literature
“Siempre Vuelvo: Grabados de Belkis Ayón,” Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño, Havana, Cuba, 1993 (catalog for the first titled solo exhibition).
“Siempre Vuelvo,” Galleria Colorenero, Milan, Italy, 1994 (catalog for the titled solo exhibition).
“Siempre Vuelvo: Colografías de Belkis Ayón. Exposición homenaje,” Galería Habana, Havana, Cuba, 2000 (catalog for the homage exhibition collateral to the 7th Havana Biennial).
“Belkis Ayón Early Work,” Patricia Doran Graduate Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2003 (catalog).
“Nkame: Belkis Ayón,” edited by Cristina Vives (with texts by J. Veigas and Katia Ayón), Turner Libros, Madrid, 2010.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” 2012 : page 78.
“Belkis Ayón,” Arte Cubano Contemporáneo, Colección Espiral 1/30, Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas, Artecubano Ediciones, Havana, Cuba, 2016.
“Behind the Veil of a Myth / Tras el velo de un mito: Belkis Ayón,” edited by Cristina Vives, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, United States, 2018 : page 127.
“Belkis Ayón,” [NAME] Publications in collaboration with David Castillo and the Belkis Ayón Estate, 2024 : work 25 (Bilingual 89-page monograph; reproduces Siempre Vuelvo, 1994 as catalogued work no. 25, with focus on the artist’s voice and foundational collographs.)
“Belkis Ayón. Nkame Mafimba,” edited by Ernesto Leyva García, Turner Libros, Madrid, 2024 : page 257.