Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla, better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture. Inspired by and in contact with some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera, Lam melded his influences and created a unique style, which was ultima
"I thought back to Europe being invaded by the Nazi army with great sadness … For me, seeing Europe had been everything. When I came back to Cuba, I was taken aback by its nature, by the traditions of the Blacks, and by the transculturation of its African and Catholic religions. And so I began to orientate my paintings toward the African."
Wifredo Lam"In the 1950s we were all hungry for travel and new experiences. There was something in the air: the end of World War Two was still fresh in our minds and everyone needed to find an opening up, a way to discover other countries."
Wifredo Lam"I wanted with all my heart to paint the drama of my country but by thoroughly expressing the Negro spirit, the beauty of the [visual] art of the blacks."
Wifredo Lam"It was like some sort of hell…For me, trafficking in the dignity of a people is just that: hell. I refused to paint cha-cha-cha."
Wifredo Lam"I grew up with Wifredo Lam. Not in a metaphorical sense, but literally: my father, an art collector with a taste for the unusual, owned an “Untitled” Lam that hung in our living room like a gateway to another universe. It was a dense, horned, animal-headed figure—half human, half orisha, half nightmare. I spent several years trying to understand it. … As I walked through MoMA’s halls, I found myself back in my childhood living room, gazing at that “Untitled” painting and contemplating its message. I now believe it was whispering the same message Lam conveyed to the colonizers: You cannot own what you cannot see."
Wifredo Lam
