Wifredo Lam (1915 - 2012)

This work by Lam depicts three polymorphic figures whose various arrangement of arms and legs interact and intersect in the work. The detailing in this drawing, from the form’s adornments to the hatch marks and shading used to indicate the texture of the figures’ skin is consistent with Lam’s artistic interest in totenism. With varying levels of dimensionality, these figures bear the stylistic markings of symbolic characters in Santeria culture. Lam’s mark-making in this drawing is clean and decisive, with thin, curving lines gently outlining the figures’ shapes. Little indication is given to the setting and backdrop of the composition, suggesting that these divine subjects exist in an omnipresent form – neither here, nor there, living in profound distinction in their own limitless dimension.

Untitled, 1968

Pen and Ink with Graphite on Paper

14 ¾ x 21 ⅞ in. (37.5 x 55.6 cm)

Signed and Dated, Lower Right: Wi 1968

Provenance

Galerie Dobbelhoef, Kessel (Belgique)

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Literature

Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 21

Exhibition History

Wifredo Lam and Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September – 5 November 2021, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

In this monochromatic ink work, Lam returns to a familiar motif. The polymorphic horse-headed woman appears in several of his works over the years, in works such as Femme Cheval, HorseHeaded Woman, and others. Over the course of his career, Lam’s work has reflected on spiritual symbology in Santeria and Voodoo culture, and this piece is no exception. Here, Lam is experimenting with representations of divine femininity and Afro Cuban archetypes of ancestral guardianship. Valerie Fletcher notes that “in Santeria symbology a horse signifies the possession or empowerment of a devotee by an orisha; when a practitioner becomes possessed, that person is described as being ‘ridden’ by that spirit” (my emphasis). The expression of an anti-colonial spiritual force, largely associated with his godmother and the femme cheval, is one of the defining features of Lam’s Negritude.

Horse Woman on The Chair, 1951

Pastel and Charcoal on Paper

19 x 26 in. (48.3 x 66 cm)

Signed, Dated, and Inscribed: 1951

Provenance

Private Collection

Private Collection

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Exhibition History

Wifredo Lam and Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September – 5 November 2021, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Figuratively Speaking, 2 March – 11 May 2023, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY