In the heart of Oxford, a newly transformed art space unveils the haunting, monumental prints of a visionary Cuban artist taken too soon. “Belkis Ayón: Sikán Illuminations” at Modern Art Oxford is a stunning introduction to the singularly strange world of Ayón, who passed away in 1999 at just 32 years old.
A Pioneer of Collography
Ayón was a trailblazer in the complex printmaking technique known as collography. She painstakingly assembled cardboard collages, then inked and pressed them to create prints of an unprecedented scale – some towering over 10 feet high. The results are striking: bold yet intricate compositions in shimmering shades of black, white, and gray.
Afro-Cuban Mythology Reimagined
Drawing inspiration from the secretive Abakuá brotherhood and its founding myths, Ayón populated her prints with an otherworldly cast of characters. Fish-scaled women cradle sacrificial goats, while crowned men preside over mysterious rituals. Christian symbols mingle with Afro-Cuban motifs in dense, dreamlike scenes that seem to hint at hidden meanings.
Ayón’s graphic gifts run from the minutest inflection of an eyelid or contour that, ever so subtly, differentiates male from female.
– Laura Cumming, The Observer
A Feminist Voice in Castro’s Cuba
According to those close to the artist, Ayón’s interpretation of the all-male Abakuá legends was avowedly feminist. In works like La cena, the sacrificial figure of Sikán, a woman who discovered the brotherhood’s secrets, takes the place of Jesus at the center of a recast Last Supper.
Glimmers of the Personal
While much of Ayón’s oeuvre remains thrillingly opaque to outsiders, her final works offer tantalizing glimpses into her inner world. In My Vernicle, a woman holds up a veil imprinted with the face of a man – a reference, the exhibition notes, to Ayón’s passionate but ill-fated relationship with a Colombian artist.
Most arrestingly personal is The Sentence from 1993, in which a wide-eyed Sikán learns of her fate. A stark cross, the blackest black ink of all, brands the white palm thrust towards her in warning or judgement.
A Must-See Show in a Revitalized Space
Ayón’s exhibition ushers in a new era for Modern Art Oxford, fresh from a welcoming makeover complete with a street-front red cafe and an inviting family art space. It’s a fitting setting for a show that illuminates the brief but brilliant career of an artist who, in the words of one reviewer, created “anything quite like it.”
Whether drawn in by the technical virtuosity, the mythological intrigue, or the glimpses of a remarkable woman’s inner world, visitors should not miss this opportunity to immerse themselves in Belkis Ayón’s extraordinary visual universe. The power and strangeness of her prints will linger long after leaving the gallery.
