María Magdalena Campos-Pons combines and crosses diverse artistic practices, including photography, painting, sculpture, film, video, and performance. Her work addresses issues of history, memory, gender, and religion, while investigating how each of these themes informs identity formation. Inspired by the traditions and rituals of her ancestors, the artist's imagery and performances honor the labor of Black bodies on indigo and sugar plantations, renew Catholic and Santería religious practices, and celebrate revolutionary uprisings in the Americas. Born in Cuba and currently based in Nashville, she has presented solo exhibitions and performances at distinguished institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; among many others. Additionally, her work is held in more than thirty museum collections around the world.
Testigo—a self-portrait—traces a visual and conceptual lineage to Untitled (The Right Protection), a Polaroid photograph that the artist created in 1999. In this new iteration, numerous eyes appear on Campos-Pons' back, referencing the eyespots of butterfly wings as well as the evil eye motif that dates back to ancient times. Tears drip from these eyes, as though to mourn the dark narratives that have plighted the Afro-Cuban community since the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. As in many works created over the span of the artist's nearly four-decade career, the deeply emotive image embodies an unyielding personal interest in themes such as love, redemption and spirituality; more recently, Campos-Pons has also explored the power of community care and protection. The artist will hand-embellish each print in this edition with new details to the eyes and tears.
María Magdalena Campos-Pons
Testigo, 2023
18 x 21 inches
Archival Pigment Print
Limited Edition of 25 with 5AP + 1PP
Hand-embellished, signed and numbered by the artist
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