The new exhibition at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) place Wifredo Lam We are at the center of the international scene. Considered one of the most complex and least understood representatives of Surrealism, this Afro-Cuban artist is featured prominently in a 2025 retrospective focused on decolonization and the mixing of cultures. The exhibition will recover iconic works such as: “jungle” And the monumental Grand Composition (1949) takes center stage.
Width 4.5 meters, “Great composition” The work resided in a private collection in Paris until it was acquired by MoMA, and is known for its angular creatures, unfinished areas, and restlessness and openness. The exhibition focuses on Mr. Lamb’s Afro-Cuban heritage and the decolonizing aspects of his work.
The arrival of the Grande Composition was a milestone for MoMA. Christoph Sherixtogether serve as museum director and exhibition curator. beverly adamsspent years negotiating a move into New York. collaboration of Damasia Lacroze and Eva Caston What was decisive in this process?
Under the title:Wifredo Lam: “If I don’t sleep, I dream””, the exhibition covers Lam’s early experiments in the 1920s to his final works before his death in 1982. art newsthis selection invites us to explore little-published aspects of his work, especially those rarely seen outside Cuba.
One of the most powerful conceptual axes was the rereading of Lamb’s career in terms of colonial liberation and legitimation of Afro-Cuban roots. Adams and Sherix quoted the artist and emphasized that his work is, as he expressed it in a 1980 interview, “an act of decolonization.” Gerardo Mosquera.
Lam, who is of Afro-Cuban and Chinese descent, also expressed an intention to “reposition black cultural objects within their own landscape and in relation to their own world.” In another quote collected by art news“Africa has not only been stripped of a large part of its people, but also of its conscience,” he said.
These ideas were expressed as follows: hybrid figureThe most symbolic of these is femme cheval A horse woman inspired by Lucumi spirituality and the orishas, she became a symbol of resistance and cultural reclamation.
MoMA brought together Lam’s fundamental works in one place, making it easier to understand their symbolism and historical context. “jungle” (1942-43), a mainstay in the museum’s collection since 1945, depicts the Antilles using an illustration of the moon’s face set in a sugar cane field, a direct allusion to slavery in the Caribbean.
In “Les Invités” (1966), the horse’s head showed the evolution of femme cheval, mutated towards abstraction, while in “Madame Lumumba” (1938), the female figure remained a mystery. Pauline Opangowidow of Patrice Lumumbait was Aimé Cesaire He later named her as such, questioning the usual decolonial interpretation. Works such as “Ogue Orisa” and “Omi Obini” (1943) explored the fusion of Afro-Caribbean deities and landscapes, blurring the boundaries between human, divine, and nature.
Lamb’s relationship with European Surrealism and its reception in both Europe and America constituted another related axis. The artist maintained connections with such people as: Andre Bretonbut his work was incompletely interpreted in those areas.
profile of art news In 1950, for example, he drew attention to the appearance of ram horses, but ignored their Afro-Cuban roots and the deeper meaning of femme cheval. This approach revealed a historical tendency to downplay the cultural and political aspects of Lam’s work, emphasize psychological and dream interpretations, and downplay his message of resistance.
collaboration with Aimé Cesaire“Negritude,” a reference material for “Negritude,” attracted attention at the exhibition. MoMA included prints from the portfolio “Annunciation” (1982) by Lamb. A creature with long thin arms and a mask. They interact with Césaire’s poetry. Although the extent of mutual influence between both creators was analyzed, the exhibition focused on the intellectual and artistic exchanges that broadened Lam’s horizons.
The exhibition tour begins with Mr. Lam’s training in Madrid and Paris. Born in Cuba and raised by a Lucumi priestess godmother, the artist traveled to Spain in 1918 to complete his education.
The following influences can be seen in his early works: picasso But in works like “Civil War” (1937), a personal voice characterized by confusion and historical pain already appears. Arriving in Paris in 1938, he later joined the Surrealist and Tropique groups in Martinique, strengthening his ties with Caribbean traditions.
In the final stages of his career, Lamb dabbled in abstract art and ceramics. Although his skill in these techniques varied, he maintained a constant appetite for experimentation. In the works of the 1950s, femme cheval appeared in increasingly mysterious forms. The title of the exhibition, “Quand je ne dors pas, je rêve” (1955), depicts the intersection of dreams and reality, moving away from the surrealist pessimism of Europe. own sensibilities.
MoMA’s retrospective only begins to delve into the many layers of meaning that run through Lamb’s work. The artist defined himself as a cultural “Trojan horse” capable of transforming the established order. The question remains how many mysteries and resistance strategies remain. hidden in his legacy.
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