This may lead or confuse the viewer to perceive or interpret the painting as a portrait of Aida Wèdo. Luxurious draperies bear witness to the greatness of the figure among other lwas.
And, they both are part of the Rada family where generous and benevolent deities are found.įurthermore, through the representation of a serpent, the painting also exhibits sensual and perceptible attributes such as the head and breasts of a woman. ) Damballah has a dual nature he is male, Damballah Wèdo, and female, as Aida Wèdo (see Planson, Un initié parle, Ed J’ai Lu (Aventure mystérieuse), Paris, 1974, p.125). Today, the lwa is represented most often by wrought iron snakes, sometimes by two intertwined serpents around the Poto-mitan (the central pole), and by their vèvè, drawn during ceremonies. (Many years ago, the lwa was present in hounfors (voodoo temples) in the form of a living snake kept in an earthenware container and taken out on days of ceremonies.
Hyppolite’s representation of a serpent, for instance, is derived from his own personal religious tradition-his devotion to Damballah who is venerated and depicted in the form of a serpent. Breton certainly understood that, in Hyppolite’s oeuvre certain elements, not normally found together, coalesced to construct illogical and startling connections. The French poet André Breton first discovered the art of Hector Hyppolite in 1945 and suggested he could greatly contribute to the French surrealist movement. Through them, he fashioned the perfect balance between his aesthetic interests, and references to nature, and also his faith. Hector Hyppolite created a very personal iconography of the Voodoo pantheon by conflating these Catholic images. (These specific and emblematic ground drawings made inside the peristyle executed during ceremonies by the celebrant and thereafter destroyed, leaving no trace whatsoever that could induce repression against such outlawed practices.) The representation of the lwas was then no longer limited to their vèvès or individual symbols. Their superimposition of the lwas or Voodoo deities onto images of the Catholic saints introduced a new visual imagery into Haitian religious art. In doing so, they created common rituals and iconographic references. To ease the pressure imposed on them, most Voodoo devotees adhered to the Catholic faith. Thus, the perception presented by the artist should not be interpreted as naïve imagery representing the world, but as an organization of signs based on technique, and ideas within a particular society at a specific crossroads.Ĭolonial powers and, later government and Catholic institutions were determined to eradicate Voodoo.
#DAMBALLAH AYIDA WEDO PROFESSIONAL#
However, after studying his production during a brief professional career, it is evident that his paintings are endowed with symbolic meaning which, empower a people to express its collective imagination, and construct a vision of the world. This exhibition also traveled to Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Center, 22 December 1978-4 February 1979 New Orleans, New Orleans Museum of Art, 15 September-11 November 1979.Ĭritics believed Hector Hyppolite’s art was purely decorative and relegated it to a design aesthetic solely based on his joyous decorative work on the doors for a bar in the northwestern town of Montrouis.
New York, Brooklyn Museum, Haitian Art, 2 September- 5 November 1978, p. New York, American Federation of Arts, Haitian Painting: The Native Tradition, November 1973- November 1975, no. Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Le Musee D’Art Haitien, November 1975, no. This exhibition traveled to Cambridge, Arts Council Gallery, 2-23 November 1968, Billingham, Art Gallery, 30 November -28 December 1968, Sheffield, Mappin Art Gallery, 4-26 January 1969, Manchester, Manchester Museum, 1-22 February 1969 Folkestone, Arts Centre, 8-22 March 1969 Cardiff, Welsh Arts Council Gallery, 26 April- Doncaster, Museum and Art Gallery, 19 July-10 August 1969 London, Hayward Gallery, 18 September-23 October 1969.ĭortmund, Germany, Museum am Ostwall, Art from Haiti from the Collection of Kurt Bachmann, 30 November 1969- 11 January 1970. London, Art Council, Popular Paintings from Haiti from the Collection of Kurt Bachmann, 1968-69, p. Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Das Naive Bild der Welt, 1961.
0 kommentar(er)
