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 > NKAME mafimba - Page 278Exhibitions
“Siempre Vuelvo. Exposición personal Belkis Ayón,” Galería GRAU, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Cienfuegos, Cuba, 1995
“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.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, Connecticut, United States, September 2009 – February 2010.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, United States, July – November 2010.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, United States, August 2011.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Fowler Art Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States, 2016–2017.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” El Museo del Barrio, New York, New York, United States, 2017.
“Nkame. Belkis Ayón: A Retrospective,” Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 2017.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, United States, 2018.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, United States, 2018.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” SMoCA (Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art), Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, 2018–2019.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 2020.
“Nkame. A retrospective of Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, United States, 2021.
“Belkis Ayón. Colografías,” Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, 2021–2022 (curated by Cristina Vives).
“Belkis Ayón. Ya Estamos Aquí,” Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 2022–2023.
Literature
“Nkame: Belkis Ayón,” edited by Cristina Vives (with texts by J. Veigas and Katia Ayón), Turner Libros, Madrid, 2010 page 278.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” exhibition catalog, 2012 : cover and pages 36–37, page 78 (illustrated).
“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 171.
“Belkis Ayón. Colografías,” exhibition catalog, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, 2021–2022 (curated by Cristina Vives) (reproduced).
“Belkis Ayón,” exhibition booklet, Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 2022 (illustrated as cat. no. 27).