Belkis Ayon Cuba, 1967-1999
93 x 67 cm
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."
Exhibitions
“Evidencias de vindicación (Evidence of Vindication)” (Belkis Ayón, Isary Paulet, Ibrahim Miranda), Centro de Arte 23 y 12, Havana, Cuba, October–November 1993.
“Siempre vuelvo. Grabados de Belkis Ayón (I Always Return: Prints by Belkis Ayón),” Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño, Havana, Cuba, November 30–December 31, 1993.
“Vindicación del grabado (Vindication of Printmaking),” Galería La Acacia, Havana, Cuba, opened March 24, 1994.
“Siempre vuelvo (I Always Return),” Galleria Colorenero, Milan, Italy, May 17–June 11, 1994.
“Siempre vuelvo. Exposición personal Belkis Ayón (I Always Return: Belkis Ayón Solo Exhibition),” Galería GRAU, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Cienfuegos, Cuba, July 1995.
“Testimonio de la utopía: 7 grabadores cubanos (Testimony of Utopia: Seven Cuban Printmakers),” Espaço 508 Sul, Brasília, Brazil, 1995.
“Unterstütze mich, halte mich hoch im Schmerz. Belkis Ayón (Support Me, Hold Me High in Pain: Belkis Ayón),” St. Barbara Church, Breinig, Germany, November 3–19, 1995. Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.
“Two Contemporary Cuban Artists: Belkis Ayón and Nelson Domínguez,” Hofstra Museum, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, United States, April 21–August 2, 1996.
“Cuba Kunst Heute (Cuban Art Today),” Staatliches Kurhaus, Bad Steben, Germany, July 6–October 26, 1997.
“Siempre vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón. Exposición homenaje (I Always Return: Collographs by Belkis Ayón. Tribute Exhibition),” Galería Habana, Seventh Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba, November 15–December 18, 2000. Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.
“Kunst aus Kuba, Sammlung Ludwig / Art from Cuba: The Ludwig Collection,” Museum Ludwig at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, April 15–June 3, 2002. Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.
“Belkis Ayón: Early Work,” Patricia Doran Graduate Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, April 4–19, 2003. Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.
“Resurrection: Belkis Ayón (1967–1999), Collographs from Cuba,” Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, in association with Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, October 11, 2003–January 4, 2004.
“Siempre vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón (I Always Return: Collographs by Belkis Ayón),” Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 21–June 21, 2004.
“Siempre vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón (I Always Return: Collographs by Belkis Ayón),” Galería de Arte de Colón, Colón, Matanzas, Cuba, June 3–30, 2005.
“Siempre vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón (I Always Return: Collographs by Belkis Ayón),” Galería Provincial de Arte de Villa Clara, Santa Clara, Cuba, July 2005.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” Lyman Allyn Art Museum and Hispanic Alliance, New London, Connecticut, United States, September 12, 2009–February 21, 2010. Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.
“Nkame: Belkis Ayón (1967–1999),” Convento de San Francisco de Asís, Havana, Cuba, September–December 2009.
“Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul,” Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, United States, July 15–November 25, 2010.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States, October 2, 2016–February 12, 2017.
“Wild Noise / Ruido Salvaje,” The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York, United States, February 17–July 3, 2017.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” El Museo del Barrio, New York, New York, United States, June 13–November 5, 2017.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, United States, January 25–April 29, 2018.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, United States, June 2–September 3, 2018.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, October 13, 2018–January 20, 2019.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States, February 29–May 24, 2020.
“A Graphic Revolution: Prints and Drawings in Latin America,” Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, March 14–August 2, 2020.
“Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón,” Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, United States, February 6–September 5, 2021.
“34th Bienal de São Paulo: Faz escuro mas eu canto / Though It’s Dark, Still I Sing,” Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo, São Paulo, Brazil, September 4–December 5, 2021.
“Belkis Ayón: Colografías (Belkis Ayón: Collographs),” Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, November 17, 2021–April 18, 2022. Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.
“Women in Print: Recent Acquisitions,” Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, January 16–June 19, 2022.
“Belkis Ayón: Ya estamos aquí (Belkis Ayón: We Are Here),” Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany, October 22, 2022–March 12, 2023.
“New Narratives: Contemporary Works on Paper,” Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, November 19, 2023–April 14, 2024.
“Belkis Ayón,” David Castillo, Miami, Florida, United States, January 30–May 11, 2024.
“Eight Decades of Cuban Figuration and Neo-Figuration,” Latin Art Core, Miami, Florida, United States, April 12–June 30, 2024.
“Belkis Ayón: Mito y desobediencia (Belkis Ayón: Myth and Disobedience),” MALBA—Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 17–October 12, 2026.
Literature
Unterstütze mich, halte mich hoch im Schmerz. Belkis Ayón, exhibition catalogue, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, 1995, unpaginated. Illustrated.
Siempre vuelvo: Colografías de Belkis Ayón. Exposición homenaje. VII Bienal de La Habana, Galería Habana, Havana, 2000, unpaginated. Illustrated.
Kunst aus Kuba, Sammlung Ludwig / Art from Cuba: The Ludwig Collection, 2002, no. 22, pp. 50–51 and 161. Illustrated p. 50.
Belkis Ayón: Early Work, Patricia Doran Graduate Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, 2003, pp. 8–9 and 15. Illustrated p. 8.
La Gaceta de Cuba, no. 1, January–February 2004, Havana, p. 23. Illustrated.
Wood, Yolanda, “Belkis Ayón: La resurrección de los cuerpos marcados,” Atlántica: Revista de Arte y Pensamiento, no. 37,
Winter 2004, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, pp. 97–105. Illustrated p. 100.
Gelburd, Gail, Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul, Hispanic Alliance, 2009, no. 6, pp. 78–79 and 96. Illustrated p. 78.
Ayón, Katia, et al., eds., Nkame: Belkis Ayón, Turner, Madrid, 2010, catalogue no. 93.11, pp. 202–203, 248–249 and 298. Illustrated pp. 202 and 249.
Pérez Pérez, Isabel María, ed., Belkis Ayón: Arte Cubano Contemporáneo, Colección Espiral 1/30, Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas and Artecubano Ediciones, Havana, 2016, p. 52. Illustrated.
Menéndez, Lázara, Para amanecer mañana, hay que dormir esta noche: Universos religiosos cubanos de antecedente africano—procesos, situaciones problémicas, expresiones artísticas, Ediciones UH, Havana, 2017, p. 290. Illustrated.
Vives, Cristina, ed., Behind the Veil of a Myth: Belkis Ayón, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, 2018, pp. 120, 127 and 142. Work illustrated p. 127; installation views pp. 120 and 142.
Belkis Ayón: Colografías, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2021, pp. 104 and 175. Illustrated p. 104.
Nkame Mafimba: Belkis Ayón, Turner, 2024, catalogue no. 93.11, p. 257. Illustrated. ISBN 978-84-19539-24-3.