Maverick Mist

La pesca II (Fishing II) 1988
Belkis Ayón
Collagraph in 4 parts
Collection of the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba

"Two canoes charge against each other and the precious cargo of the woman-her day's catch-is unapologetically snatched away by a man.  La Pesca is the only work by the artist related directly to Abakua that does not include any of the characters easily recognizable from the myth.  It should, nonetheless, be considered one of her fundamental works since she was able to concisely show the historical shift in which the transition from the old matriarchal societies of the African Calabar to the patriarchal domain in the New World.

Societies formerly characterized by a natural division of labor in the hands of women-fishing in the case of the Cross River region-gave way to others, divided by the usurpation and force of man.  Logical consequence of economic development led to the gradual stratification of powers and gender domination.  Belkis made the characters in her prints who are faced with change and conflict seem to come alive."

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