Belkis Ayón Manso

Place: Havana

Born: 1967

Death: 1999

Biography:

Belkis Ayón Manso (January 23, 1967 – September 11, 1999) was a Cuban printmaker who specialized in the technique of collography. Ayón created large, highly detailed allegorical collagraphs based on Abakuá, a secret, all-male Afro-Cuban society. Her work is often in black and white, consisting of ghost-white figures with oblong heads and empty, almond-shaped eyes, set against dark, patterned backgrounds. Ayón's art has been exhibited in Cuba, the United States, and Europe. Her work is in the collections of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, among others.