Wifredo Lam
“My painting is an act of decolonization not in a physical sense, but in a mental one.”
Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) was born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, and eventually moved to Havana where he attended the School of Fine Arts. Shortly after, he left for Spain in 1923, where in Madrid, he studied at the studio of Salvador Dali’s teacher, Fernando Alvarez de Sotomayor. (Read More)
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With an increased interest in artist Pablo Picasso, whom Lam worked with, he was encouraged to study primitive art. Surrounded by the artistic movements rising in Europe at the time, the effects of Surrealism are evident in his work. As a person of mixed heritage, the son of a Chinese father and a mother of mixed African, Indian, and European descent, Lam became heavily influenced with a religion called Santería. The blending of various traditions and beliefs is evident in Lam’s work and his signature muted palette is well recognized around the world.
Lam exhibited his work alongside Picasso at the Perls Galleries in New York and there’s been many retrospectives on his work in museums worldwide. He is known for his fusion of Surrealism, Cubism, and elements of Caribbean culture. He developed a new awareness of Afro-Cuban traditions and focused on evolving his style that sought to show humanity.
In 1964, he received the Guggenheim International Award and his work has been acquired and exhibited in major museum, including Centre Pompidou in Paris, France; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; Museum of Modern Art, Brussels,Belgium; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba; and the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indiana, USA. He passed in 1982 with well more than one hundred personal exhibitions.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Important Exhibitions
2021 Wifredo Lam: Pleni Luna, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas, USA
2016 The EY Exhibition: Wifredo Lam, Tate Modern, London, England
2015 Wifredo Lam, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2010 Wifredo Lam, 1902 – 1982, Voyages entre caraïbes et avants-gardes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France
2008 Wifredo Lam: An Homage, Coral Gables Museum, Florida, USA
2007 – 2008 Wifredo Lam in North America, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California
2006 El Último Viaje del Buque Fantasma, Museo Histórico Provincial de Cienfuegos, Cuba
2002 – 2003 Wifredo Lam: The Changing Image, Centennial Exhibition, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
1993 Wifredo Lam, Grafik, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Wifredo Lam, obras sobre papel, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, México
1991 Wifredo Lam desconocido, Cases de Las Americas, Cuarta Bienal de la Havana, La Havana, Cuba
1985 – 1987 Wifredo Lam, Pintura y Obra Gráfica 1938-1976, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela; Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombia; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo de Artes Plásticas, Montevideo, Uruguay
1982 – 1983 Wifredo Lam, 1902-1982, Musée d’Arte Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France; Musée d’ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
Homenaje a Wifredo Lam 1902-1982, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain
1979 Wifredo Lam, The Jungle, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
1978 – 1979 Wifredo Lam, Bosque de Chapultepec, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, México
1968 Wifredo Lam, Museum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
1967 Wifredo Lam, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1952 Wifredo Lam, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, England