Life, Work, and Fate of Cuban Artist Belkis Ayon, in Miami
Gallery owner David Castillo has brought Belkis Ayon’s work to Miami to promote her message.
HAVANA TIMES – The mystical art of Belkis Ayon (1967-1999) continues to captivate viewers nearly 25 years after her suicide. On May 11th, three academics from Yale and Pennsylvania universities will gather at the David Castillo gallery in Miami to honor the painter from Havana.
Castillo, an art historian and owner of the gallery where the event will take place, talked about the artist’s legacy and her impact on the public. The gallery owner, born in Miami to Cuban parents, is interested in Ayón’s “message that generates emotion” and incorporates elements of Afro-Cuban mythology and the imagination of the secret Abakuá organization.
During a small group exhibition in Havana in 2016, Castillo discovered Ayón’s work. It was his first time on the island, invited to give a lecture during President Barack Obama’s visit. “It was a small space. I was giving a talk for artists, discussing contemporary art and its market worldwide. When I saw Ayon’s work, I said, ‘Wow! Who is this artist?’. It happened immediately. It was a very intuitive reaction,” he recalls.
Ayón studied at the Higher Institute of Art in Havana and specialized in the techniques of collography and engraving since 1988. Those who knew her closely remember the drama that surrounded her life on the island, along with the censorship, lack of freedom, and violence she sufferedo
Interested in her life and work, Castillo communicated with Ayon’s family and close acquaintances. He understood her work better and her relationship with the Abakua world, with which she had no direct ties. Only men are allowed in that association, and Ayon also had no relatives who practiced the creed.
The gallery owner notes that Ayon’s readings and research on this religious rite began with the book El Monte, published by Cuban ethnologist Lydia Cabrera in 1954. “Ayon becomes fascinated with that world and decides that the mythology interests her to create her work. Not necessarily because of the religion itself, but because pictorially, she has something in her mind that allows her to create those works.”
She begins to display her world in colors, but as her work progresses, she discovers the expressiveness of a palette of grays, white, and black. “The characters in her work, if you pay close attention, don’t have mouths,” says Castillo about one of the most recognizable features of her painting. “According to this mythology, they are obligated to keep the secret.”
There is a renaissance of Ayon’s work, the gallery owner observes, but he qualifies his statement. Undoubtedly, she is not a “forgotten” or “ignored” artist —she exhibited internationally, for example, at the Venice Biennale— but she always worked from Cuba. Despite any limitations, she continues to be the subject of studies and exhibitions. The most recent, two years ago, was dedicated to her by the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, titled Choreographies (1967-1999).
There is a foundation to protect Ayón’s work, managed by her family. They, Castillo explains, created a catalog of her work and have collaborated with curators worldwide. In the last decade, at least seven exhibitions of her work have been held in the United States and Spain, and another is planned in England.
Regarding his own gallery, Castillo affirms that it promotes modern art and that he is personally involved in managing the institution. It aims to support not only living artists developing their work—without distinguishing “origin, gender, or background”—but also historical figures like Ayon. Often, he explains, his exhibitions reflect the tension between two generations or points of view.
At just 32 years old, Belkis Ayón committed suicide on September 11, 1999, at her grandmother’s house, with a shot to her head. She left no notes and did not say goodbye to anyone. To this day, the reasons for her decision remain unknown.