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BONDED BETWEEN THE ESOTERIC AND MANIC ART October 6, 2014 Cecilia Crespo © OnCuba Magazine Under the title of Witches, but also Warlocks, the Aglutinador space and the Maniac Art Museum these days exhibit a sui generis exhibition that blends art with rites and religious beliefs from different parts of the planet. Celebrating its twenty years, this space for creation and exhibition directed by the artist Sandra Ceballos, brought together nearly fifty people in this exhibition where spirits, amulets, orishas, paranormal events, and energy are the protagonists. Artists, esoterics, astrologers, researchers, healers, ritualists, believers, practitioners, mystics, both Cuban and foreign, invoke magic, sensuality, and spirituality through various techniques, styles, textures, genres, and both conventional and experimental expressive possibilities. The show, made up of 38 works, can be seen until the end of this month in the colonial house of Alfredo Ramos, on Línea106, permanent headquarters of the Museum of Maniac Art in Havana. Sandra Ceballos told OnCuba that the exhibition is not about showing religious or folk art. The artistic intention is to excavate in the enigmatic presence of the "Eggun or dead as the matrix of all clandestine psychophysical phenomena, legitimize and qualify precisely those intelligent energies that do not sin as egocentric and that are possibly more authentic and spontaneous than the material world." “Defend their spokesmen, historically discriminated against and repressed by 'science'. To investigate the 'vaporous intervention' of spirits in life, that is the objective" she added. Bruges ... puts an extensive catalog for the consideration of disbelievers and faithful, impossible to visualize and enjoy all at once. It has works by renowned intellectuals and artists such as the researcher Natalia Bolívar, who exhibited her voodoo dolls in a glass case called "Five Spirits." You can see an installation with ashes of human corpses, by Iván Perera, from his series Immanents. Digital impressions of Álvaro José Brunet, Susan Bank, Rodney Batista also join the show together with works by Javier Alejandro Bobadilla Díaz, José Bedia and Juan Francisco Elso Padilla. A video installation by Tania Bruguera is exhibited that records the petition to the Pope to support the immigrant and undocumented community to apply for the 2014 Vatican City citizenship. You can also see an interesting photograph of the Colón Cemetery, in silver on gelatin, by Pedro Abascal from 1983. From Santiago Rodríguez Olazábal, recognized for addressing religious themes in his work, there is a large-format card: "Evil entered him from below." A video-projection of Marta María Pérez Bravo is included, one of the most spiritual pieces, without a doubt. The installation "EPD" by José Ángel Vincench: gold dust on sheets and candles and a painting from the 2010 Manuel Mendive National Prize for Plastic Arts, are other main attractions of the selection. The Canadian duo The Fastwurms (Kim Kozzi and Dai Skuse), with their medieval witch costumes, including a conical hat, arrived with their "Love is Law" installation of varying dimensions: a large spider web made of black bras. Also memorable is “Incompetent King” by Hugo Consuegra, ink and pen on cardboard (1959), and Roberto Diago's work, “Motivo de bosque”, a mixed technique on masonite from 1993, of great vitality and expression as much of his work. Espacio Aglutinador will continue to exhibit genuine and transgressive art as an “emergency room” and autonomous plaza for the promotion and development of Visual Arts, as its founder explains: “This exhibition gives continuity to the work of our non-exclusive space to disseminate the witchcraft of the world, from the dawn of humanity to the present day, passing through the traditions, religions, spells, enchantments, and philosophies of various places and historical moments. As has already been demonstrated on other occasions, Aglutinador is always renewing itself to create alternative projects to its alternativeness ”, concluded Sandra. PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS

FEBRUARY, 2020: NKAME ARRIVES AT THE CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER January 2020 Yadira Leyva Ayón © Belkis Ayón Estate The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) will be inaugurated on February 29, 2020, at its sixth venue, the Chicago Cultural Center. A project developed by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, United States June 2 - September 3, 2018 After the successful presentations in different cities of the United States, the exhibition Nkame. A Retrospective of the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), arrives at the Station Museum in Houston, Texas. The exhibition was inaugurated on the night of June 2 in an atmosphere full of friends, excellent music, and lovers of good art. The masterful curatorship of Cristina Vives, stood out on this occasion thanks to a curatorial idea that was brought to life, thanks to the efforts of the Museum staff and its Director James Harritas: many of the large-format works gained three-dimensionality when placed on individual walls, specially built for each piece, resulting in a very positive visual impact, as the pieces obtain an unprecedented monumentality. In addition, this exhibition will feature a book/catalog that will cover the exhibition and the life and work of Belkis Ayón, entitled Behind the veil of a myth . Produced by the Station Museum and the Belkis Ayón Estate, with texts by Cristina Vives and design by Laura Llópiz. The exhibition will be open to the public until September 3, 2018. Photographs: Ernesto León and Yadira Leyva Ayón

SOLO EXHIBITIONS Phillys Kind Gallery, New York, 1998 Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 1998 St Barbara Church, Aachen, Germany, 1995 1989 Proposal at the age of twenty (Belkis Ayón and Isary Paulet), Servando Cabrera Art Gallery, December 23-January, 1989, Havana. . . 1990 Sikán Kien, Leopoldo Romañach Art Gallery, June 30, Caibarién, Villa Clara, Cuba. . Sikan Kien, the powerful and wise, Art Gallery III Congress, August, Ranchuelo, Villa Clara, Cuba. . . 1991 Sacred memory, Alamar Art Center, June 22, Havana / Art Center, Guantánamo, Cuba. . . 1992 Art Cubain Contemporain (Belkis Ayón and Eduardo Yáñez), Center d'Exposition de la Gare L'Annonciation, May 1-27, L'Annonciation, Québec, Canada. . Engravings, Saw Gallery, May 7, Ottawa, Canada. . . 1993 Evidences of vindication (Belkis Ayón, Isary Paulet, Ibrahim Miranda), Centro de Arte 23 y 12, October-November, Havana. . I always go back. Engravings by Belkis Ayón, Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design, November 30-December, Havana. . . 1994 I always come back, Galleria Colorenero, May 17-June 11, Milan, Italy. . Belkis Ayón and Santiago Rodríguez Olazábal, [Galleria] Cheiros, Palazzo Colonnese Valeri, December 8-January, 1995, Vicenza, Italy. . . nineteen ninety five I always go back. Personal exhibition Belkis Ayón, Grau Gallery, Visual Arts Development Center, July, Cienfuegos, Cuba. . Unterstütze mich, halte mich hoch, im Schmerz. Belkis Ayón (Hold me in pain. Belkis Ayón), Kirche St Barbara, November 3-19, Breinig / Ludwig Forum fur Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany. . . nineteen ninety six Belkis Ayón, Cuban artiste, Galerie Bourbon-Lally, April 19, Pétionville, Haiti. . Two Contemporary Cuban Artists: Belkis Ayón and Nelson Domínguez, Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, April 21-August 2, Hempstead, New York, United States. . . 1997 Ángel Ramírez + Belkis Ayón. The New Wave of Cuban Art - I, Gallery gan, March 31-April 26, Tokyo, Japan. . Grand Pas de Trois. Sixth Biennial of Havana, (Norberto Marrero, Belkis Ayón and Juan Carlos Menéndez), Zulueta esq. a Refugio, 5th. floor, apt. 52, May 3-31, Havana. . . 1998 Desasosiego / Restlessness, Couturier Gallery, March 6-April 11, Los Angeles, California, United States. . Bernardo Marqués / Belkis Ayón, Havana Galerie, August 27-December 5, Zurich, Switzerland. . Belkis Ayón / Elsa Mora. Recent Work, Phyllis Kind Gallery, September 19-October 31, New York, United States. . Belkis Ayón & Ángel Ramírez. The New Wave of Cuban Art –II, November 6-December 20. Gallery Gan, Tokío, Japan. . . 1999 Rites. Photographies by René Peña; Collographies by Belkis Ayón, Bourbon-Lally Gallery, May 14, Pétionville, Haiti. . . 2000 I always go back. Collographies by Belkis Ayón. Tribute exhibition, Seventh Havana Biennial, Galería Habana, November 15-December 18, Havana. . . 2001 Images from silence. Collographies and matrices by Belkis Ayón, National Museum of Fine Arts, July, Havana. For a return. Collographies of Belkis Ayón, Caguayo Foundation, Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design, November 2, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. . . 2002 Belkis Ayón. La Huella Múltiple 2002 (personal exhibition), April 19-May 19. La Casona Gallery, Havana. . . 2003 Belkis Ayón Early Work, Patricia Doran Graduate Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, April 4-19, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. . . 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. . . I always go back. Collographies of Belkis Ayón, Recoleta Cultural Center, May 21-June 21, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Reunion. Exhibition of Belkis Ayón and his students. Exhibition in tribute to the artist, José Antonio Díaz Peláez Gallery, San Alejandro Academy, July 6, Havana. . . 2005 I always go back. Colographs by Belkis Ayón, Colón Art Gallery, June 3-30, Colón, Matanzas, Cuba. I always go back. Colografías of Belkis Ayon, Provincial Art Gallery Villa Clara, July, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba. . . 2006 Belkis Returns. Collographies of Belkis Ayón, Ranchuelo Art Gallery, February 3-28, Ranchuelo, Villa Clara, Cuba. The challenge of permanence. Anthological exhibition of Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Pedro Esquerré Gallery, CPAV, May 12-June 11, Matanzas, Cuba. Belkis Ayón. Origin of a myth, Villa Manuela Gallery, October 6 to November 4, Havana. . 2007 Sikan. Revelation of a myth, Art Gallery Raúl Martínez, Jan. 17- Feb. 15. Ciego de Avila, Cuba. . . 2009 Nkame. Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Anthological Exhibition, San Francisco de Asís Convent, September 11 - December 20, Havana, Cuba. . .

NKAME: RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN RECORDER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Museo del Barrio, New York, 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 June 13, 2017, at its second venue, Museo del Barrio, New York. 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: Darrel Couturier, Yadira Leyva Ayón, and Courtesy of the Museo del Barrio For more information, visit the Museo del Barrio website Press coverage New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/arts/design/how-an-afro-cuban-visionary-made-a-mans-world-her-own.html The Village Voice https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mqkJ4A4KdtcJ:https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/08/22/how-belkis-ayons-explorations-of-ritual-make-for- one-of-2017s-best-shows / + & cd = 1 & hl = es-419 & ct = clnk & client = firefox-b-ab Art by Excellencies http://www.arteporexcelencias.com/es/node/23237 ArtNexus https://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=30811 Jacques and Natasha. GELMAN FOUNDATION https://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=30811 The opinion https://laopinion.com/2017/09/06/belkis-ayon-la-maldicion-de-sikan/ Granma http://www.granma.cu/cultura/2017-09-19/la-obra-de-belkis-ayon-se-aduena-de-nueva-york-19-09-2017-21-09-55 Repeating islands https://repeatingislands.com/2017/06/13/nkame-a-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon-el-museo-del-barrio/ ARTS INITIATIVE. Columbia University in the City of New York http://artsinitiative.columbia.edu/events/nkame-retrospective-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ay%C3%B3n-0 THE BROOKLYN RAIL. Critical perspectives on Arts, Politics, and Culture http://brooklynrail.org/2017/09/artseen/BELKIS-AYON-NKAME Art geek https://www.artgeek.io/exhibitions/57f441e7ae98d49e7c1332cf/5925e7d932259c176b428e71 One Arty Minute https://oneartyminute.com/agenda/nkame-retrospective-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon.html Ethnic Epicure http://www.ethnicepicurenyc.com/culture-performances/2017/6/13/cuba-nkame-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=96681#.Wc5GCGe8rIV Art Stack https://theartstack.com/tags/exhibitions/Nkame:ARetrospectiveofCubanPrintmakerBelkisAy%C3%B3n/artists Your New York Magazine http://tunymag.com/nkame-retrospective-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon-view-now-el-museo-del-barrio/ Artnet news What's the Best Work of Art you saw this Summer? 18 Well-Traveled Experts weigh in https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-best-work-of-art-i-saw-this-summer-part-one-1052006 ZEALnyc http://www.zealnyc.com/end-of-summer-museum-round-up-part-2/ The Tempest http://www.latempestad.mx/belkis-ayon-retrospectiva/ Harlem One Stop https://www.harlemonestop.com/event/25080/nkame-a-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayn New Yorkio http://www.newyorkio.com/2017/08/nkame-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker.html OnCuba Billboard June 30, 2017 http://oncubamagazine.com/sociedad/cartelera-musica-de-barrio-en-barrio/ Afro-Cuban Directory http://directoriodeafrocubanas.com/2016/03/10/belkis-ayon/

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, SELECTED AMONG THE BEST ART OF 2017 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES December 8, 2017 Yadira Leyva Ayón © The New York Times The Nkame Exhibition: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón, exhibited this summer at Museo del Barrio, New York (June 13 - November 5) was selected among the best of the art of 2017 by the New York Times, according to the selection of Holland Cotter, one of three New York Times art critics who shared his picks. Link to the article HERE Likewise, Holland Cotter, Art Critical Co-Director of The New York Times, reviewed the exhibition at Museo del Barrio, NY. Link to the article HERE PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS

EVA LEAVES AND TAKES FLIGHT. EVA CEASES BEING A RIB Havana, Cuba. October 13, 2014 As part of the visual arts event Ellas Crean , sponsored by the Embassy of Spain in Cuba, it was inaugurated in October 2014, the exhibition Eva leaves and takes flight, Eva ceases being a rib, with the curatorship of Gabriela García Azcuy. This exhibition shows the works of five outstanding women in the world of Cuban visual arts: Aimeé García, Belkis Ayón, Cirenaica Moreira, Rocío García and Sandra Ramos; which despite having begun their struggle for the plastic arts in the late 80's of the last century, have maintained, in the words of the curator, that "female protagonism, which twenty-five years later, remains in the art scene of the Island like an already stainless spring". Participating artists: Aimeé García, Belkis Ayón, Cirenaica Moreira, Rocío García, Sandra Ramos.

David Castillo & Belkis Ayón Estate announce two major acquisitions of the artist's rare multi-panel works by The Museum of Modern Art, NY and National Gallery of Art, DC In collaboration with the artist's estate, David Castillo will present the first gallery solo exhibition of Ayón's work since her death in 1999, which will be on view from January 30 – April 25, 2024. On the occasion of the exhibition, the gallery is releasing a monograph on the artist featuring two historical interviews and selected key works, published by [NAME]. "I use collagraphy because it seems to me the most appropriate technique to express what I want to." Belkis Ayón, Resurrection , 1998, collagraph, 108.87 x 85 inches Belkis Ayón Resurrection 1998 Resurrección was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art at Art Basel in Basel / David Castillo (Booth D14). Between 1991 and 1998, Belkis Ayón made a series of large-format multi-panel collographs, chief among them, Resurrección (1998). Containing varied elements of the Abakuá and using Sikán as the central figure, Resurrección, depicts subjects, emergent and upright, foregrounded by a slumped male figure clad in symbolic head painting. Of the four main figures, Sikán punctuates the composition in hue and in gesture, tracing allegories of her myth across a personal autobiography. David Castillo Booth D14 at Art Basel in Basel 2023 Belkis Ayón, Untitled (Woman in Fetal Position), 1996, collagraph, 89 x 67 inches Belkis Ayón Untitled (Woman in fetal position) 1996 Untitled (Woman in Fetal Position) was acquired by National Gallery of Art at Art Basel in Miami Beach / David Castillo (Booth F34) Belkis Ayón's masterful collographs illustrate the sacred mythologies of the Abakuá, an Afro-Cuban belief system and secret society only men can join. Ayón's works depict teachings that were forbidden to her as a woman; Sikán—the only woman represented in the religion's pantheon is put to death for revealing Abakuán secrets. Ayón reimagined this figure's tragic story across her collographs, bringing them both—one human, one myth—together to navigate male-dominated worlds. David Castillo Booth F34 at Art Basel in Miami Beach 2022

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

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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.