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
