Republished in Richards, Paulette. [6] There are also elements, such as the sugar canes, that truly embody his mixed ancestry by referring “not only to Cuba’s pervasive plantations” and their connection to the slave trade from Africa, but “to Lam’s Chinese ancestry taken root in Caribbean soil” as well.[7]. [10] Fletcher, Valerie, and Lowery S Sims. [22] Mosquera, Gerardo. ... Cuban artist of Asian ancestry who was best known for his 1943 work "The Jungle." 1. The figures' elongated limbs lack definition, while much emphasis is placed on their larg… Wifredo Lam The Jungle (La Jungla) 1943. He studied in Spain under the same teacher as Salvador Dalí and became a friend of Picasso after moving to Paris in 1938. (99 x 70 cm.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996. Wifredo Lam. The work, “intended to communicate a psychic state,” Lam said, depicts a group of figures with crescentshaped faces that recall African or Pacific Islander masks, against a background of vertical, striated poles suggesting Cuban sugarcane fields. Ce tableau, réalisé dans les années 1942-43, a été considéré, par certains critiques de l´époque, comme le premier manifeste plastique du tiers-monde parce qu´il était d´accord A major early 20th-century painter, Wifredo Lam fused elements of Cubism and Surrealism with African culture in paintings that were exhibited alongside those of Pablo Picasso and other Cubists and Fauvists.A native Cuban, Lam hailed from Chinese, European, Indian, and mixed-African descent, and he was deeply influenced by African spiritual practices such as Santeria. Lam is remembered by his Surrealist-like and Cubist-like paintings that embodied his signature style: a sort-of hybrid between these two movements; a new style that did not perfectly fit into Western categories. Yet each interpreted it differently, the one [Lam] toward Afro-Caribbean imagery, the other [Matta] toward an exploration of the psyche in a broader humanist context”. “Introduction” In Crosscurrents of Modernism: Four Latin American Pioneers: Diego Rivera, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Wilfredo Lam, Matta = Intercambios Del Modernismo, Cuatro Precursores Latinoamericanos, 17. During the early 1920s, he exhibited at the Salón de la Asociación de Pintores y Escultores in Havana. 1. However, Lam recognized how culturally relevant Santería was in Afro-Carribean culture and the need to reclaim its origin in “the beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people from Nigeria”. “Modernism from Afro-America: Wilfredo Lam.” In Beyond the Fantastic, 127. From the 1930s until the 1950s, several members of the African diaspora turned to Aimé Césairé’s Négritude movement in order to decolonize Black contributions in the Western world. The meaning of the name Lam: Forest. [17], Even though Lam’s Négritude was, naturally, very autochthonous to Lam’s practice, this desire to use visual art to deconstruct the European perspectives of the time can also be identified in the work of other Latin American Modernists, for instance: Diego Rivera, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, and Roberto Matta. Around this time, Lam moved to Cuba to create paintings that would move him “closer to his own culture instead of moving away” and this is the period in his life where his most renowned work, La Jungla (1943) (Fig. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 181. [5] Fletcher, Valerie, and Lowery S Sims. [9] The background displays a jungle filled with jewel-like sugar canes and frutas bomba (papayas) that both morph to become part of the figures in the painting in a way that is directly influenced by André Breton’s Surrealism . La vie est un songe, Filipacchi 1974 Cuba, 1902–23. Among those interested in the idea of Négritude was Wifredo Lam (1902–1982), an Afro-Cuban painter. [12] It is necessary to highlight that regardless of how exposed Lam was to Santería, he was never officially part of the religion and only participated in certain rituals as a spectator. [20] This can be seen in the work of Cuban composer, Elio Rodríguez, who is directly inspired by La Jungla (1943) and the way Lam “turns it into a landscape replete with the symbolism of Caribbean sexuality and lasciviousness”. [5] Likewise, from his Central and West African heritage, it was the “pointed oval or heart-shaped face” of sculptures across the Congo Basin and Nigeria and the “‘coffee bean’ type” eyes that inspired Lam. Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) Femme cheval signed and dated 'Wifredo Lam 1950' (lower right) oil on canvas 48 5/8 x 42 7/8 in. “I wanted with all my heart to paint the drama of my country, but by thoroughly expressing the black spirit, the beauty of the plastic art of the blacks,” he once said. Unlike most New World countries, which had won independence during the early and middle years of the nineteenth century, Cubra gained autonomy from Spain only in 1902, the year Lam was born. https://login.avoserv2.library.fordham.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.avoserv2.library.fordham.edu/docview/2303529921?accountid=10932. “In the hard-nosed “La Jungla” (“The Jungle,” 1943), Wifredo Lam, as proto-Afrofuturist environmentalist, depicts natural hierarchy being surpassed by vitalist horizontality. In 1968, Lam was included in the itinerant exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Dada, Surrealism and Their Heritage. In this painting, Lam explores a jazzy hybrid that incorporates Picasso-esque Africanized Cubism, shattering planar congruity. His father was Chinese and his mother was a Cuban woman of mixed Spanish and African heritage. [18] In its own way, Breton’s Surrealism inspired the deconstructive character seen in two remarkable examples of Latin American Modernism: Lam’s La Jungla (1943) and Matta’s Here, Sir Fire, Eat! Wifredo Lam. Annunciation Told Like an Origin Story : Notes on Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Symbolic Interpretation of One of the Most Enigmatic Masterpieces, What You Should Know About the History of Collage, Physicality as an Aesthetic: Encountering Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Building Bridges: The Top Lots from New York’s Fall Imps & Mods, The Woman Was Lit: Artist Lilla Cabot Perry. MOCO SILVA MIKLOS / Passages de Paris Édition Spéciale (2009) 3-11 4 Résumé : Cet article a l´objectif de faire une brève analyse du tableau “La Jungle”, la plus fameuse oeuvre de Wifredo Lam. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 217. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, 1992. [15] Fletcher, Valerie, and Lowery S Sims. [2] Fletcher, Valerie, and Lowery S Sims. Similar to Lam’s practice, the way Queloides deals with “the subjects of race, discrimination, and racism…is not confined to the island”. An interconnected world is not as recent as we think. Republished in Richards, Paulette. Wifredo Lam, The Jungle (La Jungla), gouache on paper mounted on canvas, 1943, Museum of Modern Art, New York. The ancient African faces that peer out of the Cuban jungle in his painting are universal and old. “Riding Modernism: Wifredo Lam’s Decenterings.” 20. From a young age, Lam had always been exposed, at least on a cultural sense, to Santería. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 183. In fact, growing up in the Caribbean during the early twentieth century as the “son of a Chinese father and a European-African mother”, Lam was, since his childhood, familiar with the struggle of not fitting into one category. Lam uses this same strategy in an image like The Jungle, but in his work there is also a personal component. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 171. [1] Mosquera, Gerardo. “MoMA Reshapes Image with ‘Modernism Plus’: Review.” New York Times, Oct 11, 2019, Late Edition (East Coast). by Susan Edwards. [2] Lam would later come to the realization that this was in part due to these categories being created by hegemonic European culture whose heritage did not resemble his own or that of other Afro-Latinos. FUN FACTS. [14] Mosquera, Gerardo. If you know of the artist Wifredo Lam (1902–82), then it is likely that you are familiar with his most famous painting, The Jungle, 1943.For many years the painting was installed on the ground floor of the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) opposite the entrance to the administrative offices and library, on the way to the coatroom. Wifredo Lam Cuban artist of Asian ancestry who was best known for his 1943 work “The Jungle.” Also excelled in sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking. This same cultural hybridity that is so characteristic of Lam’s life and art, can also be seen in La Jungla (1943) through the “bamboo-like stalks of wild cane”, the oval-like faces, and the clear Cubist influence, among other elements. [13], In order for Lam’s Modernism to successfully become a rejection of the hegemonic European Modernism, cultural and religious practices like Cuban Santería and Haitian Voodoo, could not be ignored. They are architectural columns, they are trees, rooted and straight, but narrow. [16]The image of the femme cheval and the image of the Santería priestess act “not only as protectors and disseminators of Afro-Cuban culture, but also as models of empowerment over and against their white exploiters and colonizers”. 6–7 (January 1997): 16–21 . The identity that Lam invokes with this work is something outside of hegemonic definitions that is autochthonous to the Black Atlantic and remains until this day as part of our contemporary and global society. Lam created a new narrative within the Cuban imagination: rooted in the island’s complex history, his work was an antidote to the picturesque frivolity that mired the nation in stereotype, The Jungle is both enigmatic and enchanting, and has inspired generations of viewers to liberate their imaginations. Growing up in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, his mother’s hometown, Lam was surrounded by his godmother, a priestess in the chapter of Santa Barbara (Shango), as well as by other African customs from the area. Wifredo Lam, Study for “The Jungle,” 1943. Sculptor Wifredo Lam were born on Monday, birthstone is Turquoise, the seaon was Fall in the Chinese year of Tiger, it is 337 days until Wifredo Lam next birthday. “I knew I was running the risk of not being understood. Inspired by and in contact with some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, Lam melded his influences and created a unique style, which was ultimately characterized by the prominence of hybrid figures. [1]Through the incorporation of elements from Santería, European Cubism and Surrealism, and West and Central Africa, Wifredo Lam’s La Jungla (1943) illustrates Lam’s Négritude and rethinks Afro-Caribbean identity in the Black Atlantic outside of its Western definition. “Modernism from Afro-America: Wilfredo Lam.” In Beyond the Fantastic, 130. Together these elements obliquely address the history of slavery in colonial Cuba. [10] Thus, illustrating once again how Lam integrates elements from all his different heritages to create something new. Lam’s distinctive style and exploration of Afro-Cuban visual culture, alongside his knowledge of European modernism, made a hug… Lam, who had spent three years working with the Surrealists in Paris, aimed for The Jungle to convey the haunting consequences of slavery and colonialism for his native island of Cuba. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 169. We believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. Fouchet, Max-Pol. Image courtesy of the lenders and ©2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. [15] The femme cheval appeals to the Santería practice of possesions by the orishas (“divinities or spirits who act as intermediaries between humans and the forces of nature”) while also invoking a feminine energy that is key to Lam’s Négritude and the cultural syncretism of La Jungla (1943). [14] In La Jungla (1943), Lam depicts Santería through the recurring image of the femme cheval (or “horse-woman”). Wifredo Lam December 8, 1902 – September 11, 1982 The son of a Chinese immigrant and a Congolese slave, Lam grew up in Cuba, and lived amongst Catholic as well as African traditions. These practices represent some of the many ways that “Africans and their descendants participated actively in the process of creolization and mixture” by creating “new cultures and nationalities in the Americas”. For instance, from the dominant Western traditions of the time, it was the “fanciful yet spiritual visions of Hieronymus Bosch and El Greco” as well as the “simplified forms and vivid colors of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso” that inspired Lam. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 183. (1942) (Fig. [21] Lam’s Négritude not only redefined identity outside of the European hegemony during the 1940s, but has continued to do so since the early 2000s. Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art = Raza y Racismo En El Arte Cubano contemporáneo, 20. [11], Another way that Lam uses the figures in La Jungla (1943) to decolonize the ideas surrounding it, is by incorporating elements of Santería as key subjects in the painting. [11] Mosquera, Gerardo. After Lam met Césairé in 1941, he became fascinated by the need for the African diaspora to reclaim the original African meaning in Cubism — a meaning that Cubism actively ignored by appropriating African figures as trivial and primitivist adornments. Pittsburgh, PA: Mattress Factory, 2010. “Racism: Parody and Postcommunism” In Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art = Raza y Racismo En El Arte Cubano contemporáneo, 67. Cite this page as: Dr. Doris Maria-Reina Bravo, "Wilfredo Lam, Featured | Art that brings U.S. history to life, At-Risk Cultural Heritage Education Series. Through historical contextualizations of Wifredo Lam’s The Jungle (1943) within the Paris and New York art scenes of the late 1930s and early 1940s, I address the questions of intelligibility and relative value in the international reception of exotic cultural forms. [16] Fletcher, Valerie, and Lowery S Sims. In 1943, Wifredo Lam was in the midst of re-acquainting himself with his native Cuba, especially its population of African descent. At least the name was familiar. A digest of articles from the Lotus Fruit Take a look, https://doi.org/10.1215/10757163-6-7-1-16. These “brilliant colors of the tropics” featured a “high-key palette of violets, blues, greens, yellows, oranges, and reds” that really conveyed the “jewel-like brilliance” of the Cuban foliage. “Syncretism and Syntax in the Art of Wifredo Lam.” 167. 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