David Castillo Gallery presents Belkis Ayón in Art Basel, 2023 June 15 - June 18, 2023. Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland Collection

IV National Collography Contest Belkis Ayón ANNOUNCEMENT ​ The National Council of Plastic Arts, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), and the Graphic Society of Cienfuegos, in coordination with Espacio Ayón, the Estate of Belkis Ayón, the Provincial Council of Plastic Arts, the Provincial Committee of the UNEAC and the Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets of the province of Cienfuegos, summon all interested artists and students to participate in the IV National Contest of Colography Belkis Ayón in tribute to one of the Cuban artists who marked, with her graphic work and pedagogical, a milestone in the history of Engraving in Cuba. ​ Basis of Participation All Cuban students and artists with engravings made in the COLLOGRAPHY technique, printed between 2019 and 2020, who have not participated in a previous exhibition, event, or contest, may participate. Inscription The works must be sent unframed, through certified mail or in person, until March 18, 2020: To the Association of Plastic Artists of the UNEAC of Havana, appointment at 17 and H, Vedado. Tel. 78325781, in the case of artists and students residing in the western provinces (Pinar del Río, Havana, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Matanzas and Isla de la Juventud) To the Graphic Society of Cienfuegos, appointment at Ave. 50, # 2326, between Calle 23 and Calle 25, Cienfuegos 1, Cienfuegos. Tel. 43 517979, in the case of artists and students residing in the central provinces (Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Ávila) To the Caguayo Foundation, appointment at Calle 4 No. 403 between 15 and 17, Rpto Vista Alegre, Santiago de Cuba, CP 90400, Tel. 22 643492, in the case of artists and students residing in the eastern provinces (Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo). Each artist will have the right to present three works (independent or triptych) duly signed and numbered in pencil, which cannot exceed 60 x 80 cm (paper measurements). Workshop or artist tests are not accepted. Selection A Jury will be appointed to select and award the works received. The selected and awarded works will be exhibited at the Cienfuegos Art Gallery, within the program of the 14th Feria de La Estampa, an event that will be officially inaugurated on April 9 and until April 12, 2020, making the final decision of the jury public. on April 9, at 9 pm, the opening day of the competitive exhibition. The exhibition will remain open to the public for 30 days. It will also be presented at the Casa del Benemérito de las Américas Benito Juárez of the Office of the City Historian, Havana, in 2020. The organizers of the contest are responsible for the care of the works sent, running with all the expenses generated by the return of the same to their authors. Prize A single and indivisible Grand Prize will be awarded consisting of 5 000.00 MN (donation from the artists belonging to the Belkis Ayón workshop and Estate), a diploma, and a reproduction of a work by the artist to whom the contest is dedicated. The Jury will award mentions at its discretion, without a financial award. The awarded artist will be invited to the Engraving Workshop "Magenta Rhinoceros" in the city of Toluca, Mexico, for a 10-day artistic residency. The winning works will become part of the Cienfuegos Stamp Cabinet. The awarded artist will be invited to carry out a personal exhibition at the Cienfuegos Art Center in 2022, within the official program of the V National Contest of Collography. The works not selected must contact the Organizing Committee for their return. Participating in the Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest implies acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. The Jury's decision will be final. More information Organizing Committee of the Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest ESTATE OF BELKIS AYÓN, HAVANA belkat@cubarte.cult.cu | 7 642 3083 GRAPHIC SOCIETY OF CIENFUEGOS caceres69@azurina.cult.cu | 43 517979 www.ayonbelkis.cult.cu

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States ​ February 6 - September 5, 2021 ​ The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) was inaugurated on February 6, 2021, at its seventh venue, the Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum. A project developed by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Exhibition Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. Photographs by Jonathan Smith. For more information, visit the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art website

HOLD ME IN PAIN Unterstütze mich, halte mich hoch, im Schmerz. Belkis Ayón / Hold me in pain Kirche St. Barbara, Breinig, Germany ​ November, 1995 ​ Curators: Helmo Hernández, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Becker, Ludwig Forum Aachen Words to the catalog: “Among the artists who develop the theme of God in their paintings. We are passionate about Belkis Ayón for several reasons. She comes from Cuba, and the native population of Africa on this island has achieved in Santeria a special mixture of Christian icons with the orishas of the Yoruba religions. The fact that Belkis Ayón deals with these issues makes her an artist who began in the 80s when a new perspective on religions and their importance for the lives of mankind emerged throughout the world. And in the socialist state of Cuba, this occupation has a meaning: the contradiction assumed with the religious members of the Party enriches the political practice. Belkis Ayón is a draftsman, and a printmaker with precision, subtlety, and perfection rarely seen. And yet that desire for perfection is not put at the service of the search for any beauty, but for a respectful contradiction in works full of concerns and dignity ”(Wolfgang Becker, in Belkis Ayón, Halte mich hoch… (Breining, 1995). ​ ​

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, United States ​ January 25, 2018 - April 29, 2018 The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) was inaugurated on January 25, 2018, at its third venue, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. A project organized by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Exhibition Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. Photographs: José A. Figueroa, Havana, Cuba, and courtesy of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. For more information, visit the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art website Press coverage ​ KC Studio. Covering Kansas City's performing, visual, cinematic, and literary arts http://kcstudio.org/critically-acclaimed-show-cuban-printmaker-stops-kemper-museum-belkis-ayon ​ Earthquake http://terremoto.mx/nkame-a-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon-1967-1999/ ​ Informality http://informalityblog.com/nkame-cuban-mythology-through-the-eyes-of-belkis-ayon/ ​

I ALWAYS RETURN Havana Gallery, Havana, Cuba ​ November 2000 Tribute Exhibition General coordination: Katia Ayón and Dalia González Texts: Yolanda Wood, Hilda Ma. Rodríguez, David Mateo Sponsor: Gan Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. SponsorS: National Council of Plastic Arts Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center National Union of Writers Artists of Cuba Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets ​ VIRTUOSE OF LABYRINTHS From the same source of her power Their wounds come from Adrianne rich To Belkis Ayón We believed you to be a stone with an eternal edge, Unconquered Legends Challenge And we abandon ourselves to the lightning of your laughter, To the gravity of your image. Virtuous of labyrinths that she devoured with her hands, Persephone without temples or diaries, You left us only the crumbs of your cracks And the sob of a fleeing cortege. We thought you were a sumptuous abode of the tall word And we entrusted ourselves to the towers that wavered your iron silhouette We no longer listen to the whirlwind that stirred your waves, We do not notice the mist, nor the fragility of your shadow, And we get caught up in spasm and helplessness. We loved you the owner of the unfathomable magic, Of forges and bonfires But we didn't know about your bellows In the deep place of the unspeakable. A single blow burst out of grief, Anguish struck, erased the tracks And the silence and the pain left us Of the one who is still waiting. Hilda Maria Rodriguez September 1999 ​ ​ BACK OVER THE SENSES Once, naively, I thought I was penetrating the reserved universe of Belkis Ayón; I imagined that I could add to my curriculum of author revelations the unpublished fact that she did not know how to draw very well, and that it was her face and body that had always served as patterns for the elaboration of her images. The moment Belkis made that unusual confession to me, which I made public in La Gaceta de Cuba, I was able to allow myself to be seduced by the gesture of deference that she herself implied; although I also came to think that it was an attitude derived from a certain carelessness, a certain presumption, in someone who was not afraid to expose her imperfections because she had already entered the sacrosanct precinct of legitimation. I convinced myself in those days that her greatest expertise was then focused on knowing how to compensate for the lack of ability to carry out a precise sketch, a meticulous drawing, with the implementation of an impeccable, refined and strict collographic procedure in each phase of her particular method, and in which the impact of the composition fell fundamentally on a series of value and color effects. To all this was added, in my opinion, the suspicion of having known how to choose within the Cuban cultural heritage a legend little addressed by the plastic arts, in whose narrative nucleus the experienced woman the most deplorable of the principles: the absolute exclusion. By believing that I was breaking into the confidential space of Belkis Ayón's artistic production, the only thing I had actually managed to do with the appropriation of that news was timidly touch its vertices. I was not able to understand that this argument not only offered me the indispensable coordinates to unravel the devices that she used in the consummation of her works but also to be able to investigate the concerns and uncertainties that haunted her as a creator and individual. In other words, Belkis deposits in me, as perhaps she has done in other inquirers, the necessary indications for me to commit myself to develop a much deeper investigation, which would make the retaining wall demolish once and for all, the limit that I prefixed the difference between the public valuation of her work and her personal subsistence. Analyzing today the creation of this artist as a result of the unfortunate outcome of her life, it is presented to me in a very different way: much more humanized and visceral; stripped completely of the restraint implied by a technical concern; finally rescued from the desire to continue being legitimized as a project with a florist and almost anthropological spirit, without taking into account its purely existential foundation. I also realize that what I interpreted at the beginning as an absence of a definition, could now paradoxically become a reliable test of synthesis capacity. For if what seemed to interest her, was the use of the body as a depository model of dramatic force, it was logical to suppose that she eliminated everything superfluous, everything insignificant, in order to arrive at the scene of expression; it was enough then with a gesture, with a contortion, with a look ... When Belkis emphasizes the Sikan conflict, she seems to want to emphasize her own conflict. The cause of one was unfolding more and more until it became the cause of the other. The fantastic passage must have been the pretext, the excuse; and recreation with the figuration of the royal road to show the traces of anguish, of dissatisfaction that no one knew how to capture and dissolve, not even the beings closest to it. Despite the fact that some of us already felt a growing contradiction between the gloomy atmosphere, the excess of adversity that her works reflected, and the peaceful and optimistic character that she showed before others; even though, in the last days of her life, we forbid a very strange struggle to appear at times behind her gaze, a force something like between disturbed and apprehensive, which she knew how to hide very well with her inscrutable smile. David Mateo November 2000

ART COLLECTION

III National Collography Contest Belkis Ayón ANNOUNCEMENT The National Council of Plastic Arts, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), and the Graphic Society of Cienfuegos, in coordination with the Estate of Belkis Ayón, the Provincial Council of Plastic Arts, the Provincial Committee of the UNEAC, The Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets, the Paradiso Cultural Agency and ARTEX of the Cienfuegos province, summon all interested artists to participate in the Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest, in homage to one of the Cuban artists who marked, with her graphic work and pedagogical, a milestone in the history of Engraving in Cuba. ​ Basis of Participation All Cuban students and artists with engravings made in the COLLOGRAPHY technique, printed between 2014 and 2015, who have not participated in a previous exhibition, event, or contest, may participate. ​ Inscription The works must be sent unframed, through certified mail or in person, before March 10, 2015, to the Sociedad Gráfica de Cienfuegos, located at Ave. 50, # 2326, between Calle 23 and Calle 25, Cienfuegos 1 , Hundred fires. Tel. 043 517979. Each artist will have the right to present three works (independent or triptych) duly signed and numbered in pencil, which cannot exceed 60 x 80 cm (paper measurements). Workshops or artists' tests are not accepted. ​ Selection A single Jury will be appointed to select and award the works received. The selected and awarded works will be exhibited in the Cienfuegos Art Gallery, within the program of the 9th La Estampa Fair, an event that will be inaugurated on April 7, 2015, at 9 p.m., at which time it will be officially the jury's decision. The exhibition will remain open to the public for 30 days. Likewise, it will be presented at the Casa del Benemérito de las Américas Benito Juárez of the Office of the City Historian, Havana, in 2015. The selected artists will be given the Certificate of Participation once the exhibition is over, along with the return of their works within 45 days. The organizers of the contest are responsible for the care of the works sent, running with all the expenses generated by the return of the same to their authors. ​ Prize A single and indivisible Grand Prize will be awarded consisting of 3 000.00 MN (donation of the artists belonging to the Taller de la Sociedad Gráfica de Cienfuegos and the Estate of Belkis Ayón), a diploma and a reproduction of a work by the artist to which the contest is dedicated. The Jury will award mentions at its discretion, without a financial award. The Jury's decision will be final. The winning works will become part of the Cienfuegos Stamp Cabinet. The awarded Artist will be invited to perform a personal exhibition at the Cienfuegos Art Center in 2017. The Belkis Ayón Residence, awarded to the award-winning artists, will run for a week; During this period, they will share experiences with prominent artists of contemporary Cuban plastic and engraving. Participating in the II Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest implies acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. ​ More information Organizing Committee of the Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest GRAPHIC SOCIETY OF CIENFUEGOS caceres69@azurina.cult.cu | 043 517979 ESTATE OF BELKIS AYÓN, HAVANA belkat@cubarte.cult.cu | 07 642 3083 www.ayonbelkis.cult.cu | www.ayonbelkis.co Jury Awards Members of the Jury of the III National Collography Contest Belkis Ayón. Cienfuegos, 2017. Events and Exhibitions III National Collography Contest Belkis Ayon Cienfuegos, 2017 Selected works and Exhibition Muestra Concurso Collateral Exhibitions

BELKIS AYÓN: EARLY WORK Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania . . September, 2003 Text to the catalog: Rosemary Branson Gill. The sponsors: Massachusetts College of Art Massachusetts Cultural Council Spire ​ Belkis Ayón. Early works, is sponsored by Alex Rosenberg Fine Art, New York. Exhibition and reception presented in conjunction with Revolution and Representation: An International Conference on Contemporary Printmaking. This exhibition was presented at: 2003-2004 Resurrection. Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) Collographs from Cuba, Massachusetts College of Art, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Workshop, October 11-January 4, 2004, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Co-sponsored by: Romance Languages ​​Department Latin American Women and Culture Studies Program Center for African Studies, University of Pennsylvania With the support of the Department of Religious Studies, Department of Arts, Center for African American Research, House of Latin and African Studies. Collaboration with the Brandywine Workshop and Alex Rosenberg Fine Art, New York.

I National Collography Contest Belkis Ayón ANNOUNCEMENT Basis All Cuban students and artists with engravings made in the collography technique, printed between 2011 and 2012, who have not participated in a previous exhibition, event, or contest, will be able to participate. ​ Inscription The works must be sent unframed through certified mail or in person before March 10, 2013, to the headquarters of the Centro Provincial de Arte de Cienfuegos, at Ave 56, No. 2601, between 25 and 27, Cienfuegos, CP 55100, telephone: (043) 55 06 76. Each artist will have the right to present three works (independent or triptych) duly signed and numbered in pencil, which cannot exceed 60 x 80 cm. Workshop or artist tests are not accepted. The works submitted to the contest must be unpublished. ​ Selection A jury will be appointed to select and award the works received. The selected and awarded works will be exhibited at the Cienfuegos Art Gallery, within the program of the 7th La Estampa Fair, an event that will be officially inaugurated on April 6, 2013, at 9 p.m., at which time the will make public the final decision of the jury. The exhibition will remain open to the public for 30 days. The exhibition will be presented in Havana during the next engraving meeting to be held in 2013. The selected artists will be given the Certificate of Participation once the exhibition is over, along with the return of their works within 45 days. The organizers of the contest are responsible for the care of the works sent, running with all the expenses generated by the return of the same to their authors. ​ Prize A single and indivisible Grand Prize will be awarded consisting of 3,000 Cuban pesos (donation from the artists belonging to the workshop and to the Belkis Ayón Estate), a diploma, and a reproduction of a work by the artist to whom the contest is dedicated. The Jury will award mentions at its discretion without financial endowment. The winning works will become part of the Cabinet of La Estampa de Cienfuegos. The award-winning artist will be invited to perform a personal exhibition at the Cienfuegos Art Center next year. Participating in the Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest implies acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. The Jury's decision will be final. ​ ​ More information ​ Organizing Committee of the Belkis Ayón National Coloring Contest ​ GRAPHIC SOCIETY OF CIENFUEGOS Sociedadgraficadecienfuegos@gmail.com plastica@azurina.cult.cu (043) 51 79 79 ESTATE OF BELKIS AYÓN, HAVANA belkat@cubarte.cult.cu (07) 642 30 83 www.ayonbelkis.cult.cu www.ayonbelkis.com JURY AWARDS Events and Exhibitions I N ational Collograpy Contest Belkis Ayon Cienfuegos, 2013 Selected works and Exhibition Muestra Concurso Exhibition Texturas Develadas Exhibition Nuevas Circusntancias

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States ​ October 1, 2016 - February 17, 2017 ​ Project Management: Belkis Ayón Estate and the Fowler Museum ​ Curator: Cristina Vives The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) was inaugurated on October 1, 2016, at its first venue in the United States, the Fowler Museum at UCLA. A project developed by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Photographs: José A. Figueroa, Yadira Leyva Ayón, and Courtesy of the Fowler Museum For more information, visit the Fowler Museum website Press coverage http://southernworldartsnews.blogspot.fr/ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-belkis-ayon-20160912-snap-htmlstory.html http://artishockrevista.com/2016/11/05/primera-individual-eeuu-belkis-ayon-una-artista-prolifica-corta-vida/ https://www.artforum.com/picks/id=64969 http://www.cubanartnews.org/es/news/the-mysterious-world-of-belkis-ayon http://cubacounterpoints.com/archives/4280 http://www.artandantiquesmag.com/2016/11/belkis-ayon-art/ http://hyperallergic.com/346366/the-masterful-unsettling-work-of-a-female-cuban-printmaker/ http://artillerymag.com/fowler-museum-belkis-ayon/ http://hyperallergic.com/347988/best-of-2016-our-top-10-los-angeles-art-shows/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/belkis-ay%C3%B3n-artist_us_58682398e4b0d9a5945bb281 https://www.artslant.com/ew/articles/show/47166

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States ​ February 29, 2020 The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) was inaugurated on February 29, 2020, at its sixth venue, the Chicago Cultural Center. A project organized by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Exhibition Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.