Wifredo Lam: The Imagination at Work

Wifredo Lams (1902–82) was a Cuban painter and sculptor who fused Afro-Cuban visual culture with European modernism. This chronological survey traces his career from the late 1930s to the 70s, highlighting the syncretic visual language he developed in response to modernism's Eurocentricity. Lam spent the rest of his career endeavoring to decolonize modernist art, with African sculpture and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora consistently informing his practice. The exhibition includes paintings, works on paper, and bronze sculptures, as well as a biography of Lams' life and career by Michaëla de Lacaze Mohrmann. Essays by scholars Alexander Alberro, Kaira Cabañas, Samantha A. Noël, and Alexandra Chang also feature.

Format: Hardback
Length: 174 pages
Publication date: 03 May 2022
Publisher: TeamLab

This comprehensive chronicle explores the artistic journey of Wifredo Lams (1902–82), a Cuban painter and sculptor, from the late 1930s to the 1970s. Focusing on his response to the Eurocentricity of modernism, the survey highlights the distinctive visual language he developed, seamlessly blending Afro-Cuban visual culture with European modernism. Lams, born to a Chinese father and Congolese Iberian mother, placed great importance on his heritage in his work. Early in his career, he associated with renowned artists like Picasso, Matisse, and Braque, who were known for their incorporation of African iconography. While he admired these European artists, he could not help but notice the dissonance between their aesthetic choices and their cultural experiences, particularly in the context of the racism and exploitation prevalent in Cuban society under the US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Throughout his career, Lam dedicated himself to decolonizing modernist art. His artistic practice evolved from his early Surrealist works to his later preference for geometric abstraction, African sculpture, and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. This fusion is evident in his paintings, works on paper, and rarely seen bronze sculptures, all of which are featured in the publication titled "The Imagination at Work." Accompanying the artwork is a biography of Lams's life and career written by Michaëla de Lacaze Mohrmann, a Latin American art scholar and curator who made significant curatorial contributions to the gallery's exhibition. Additionally, essays by scholars Alexander Alberro, Kaira Cabañas, Samantha A. Noël, and Alexandra Chang provide further insights into Lams's artistic legacy.

Weight: 1157g
Dimension: 296 x 244 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781948701518