yampier baez, painter

Yampier Baez

Painter

If they are not yours as much as mine they are nothing, or next to nothing, If they are not the riddle and the untying of the riddle they are nothing,

If they are not just as close as they are distant they are nothing.

Whitman

Zunzun Oil on canvas

2009

Front Susundamba Mixed on canvas

51,2 x 66,1 in 2010

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Mixed on canvas 1997

As if death

had been a dream

The Executioner

Mixed on canvas 1997

Narciso death by my hands

Mixed on canvas 1997

Transgenics

Transgenics X

Graphite on canvas 2000

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Transgenics V

Graphite on canvas 2000

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Transgenics IV

Graphite on canvas 2000

Transgenics I

Graphite on canvas 2000 Next page

Transgenics XII

Graphite on canvas 2000

Buterfly

Oil on canvas 2009 Next page

Shadow

Oil on canvas 2009

Liquid

dreams

Tiger Oil on canvas 2009

Robin and I Oil on canvas 2009

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Caterpillar Oil on canvas 2009

Trilogy

Oil on canvas 2009

Within

the limits

The Last Day of the Creation Mixed on canvas

2002

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Nigth with Day Including Mixed on canvas

2002

Restricted Zone # 1 Mixed on canvas

2002

At center

Blue Sky Mixed on canvas

2002

Of the Floating Islands series Mixed on canvas 2002

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Opposites Realities Mixed on canvas 2002

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Latest News II Mixed on canvas 2002

Of the Floating Islands series Mixed on canvas,/ 41 x 56 in

2002

Infinite Island Mixed on canvas,/ 41 x 56 in 2002

Palo

monte

Endumba Mixed on canvas

51,2 x 67,7 in 2010

Vititi Mixed on canvas

27,5 x 43,3 in 2010

Engo Mixed on canvas 27,5 x 43,3 in/ 2010

About the Palo Monte

The Palo Monte or Palo Mayombe is a religious cult of Bantu origin introduced in Cuba by African slaves brought by the Spanish to work in sugar plantations and other crops. Padre Nganga means man and Madre Nganga or Yaya means woman who know the rules and oral traditions and officiate as priests in charge of a house also known as Munanso.

From the sixteenth to the seventeenth century thousands of slaves worked and settled in the central region of the island, mostly in the area of Matanzas. There in 1765 the town of Cimarrones was founded, and became famous for its population of black slaves who practiced miracle cures and all sorts of witch craft. Ña Filomena and Ña Secundina were brought from their native Congo to work as slaves at the Santa Amalia Mill, of Cimarrones, in 1853. They were two most famous Madres Ngangas.

Munanso Mixed on canvas 27,5 x 43,3 in 2010

But Nganga or Prenda is also the consecrated recipient or iron pot containing bones, grass and soil.

Vititi and his partner Luasambu were huntsmen of slave origin. After Luasambo death, Vititi took the head and placed it in the pot naming it Vititi Congo. Thus was born one of the most famous of all time Ngangas. The oracle or divinations through bones is known as Vititi Kanguame.

Ndumba (Endumba) means all or a multitude in kimbundo, language of the kingdom of Benguela and Angola as spoken by the slaves of those places. It also means women in Cuban Santeria. It is estimated that there still exist in the region many followers and practitioners of Palo Monte.

The artist's paintings relates these roots and Afro-Cuban traditions to the landscape and nature of the island through the primary colors that express the strength and power of magic, bringing to canvas ceremonial objects and fragmented views through windows leading us to a world of cosmology and symbols.

R.T.L.

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Entoto Mixed on canvas 27,5 x 43,3 in 2010

Mama Nganga Mixed on canvas

51,2 x 66,1 in / 2010

Omalembe Mixed on canvas 27,5 x 43,3 in 2010

Yampier Baez Matos Matanzas, Cuba, 1974

He graduated from the Vocational School of Arts of Matanzas and member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Currently he teaches at the School of Arts Matanzas. He has illustrated

books for several Cuban publishers.

Some personal exhibitions:

1997: As the leaves, Art Gallery, Cardenas, Cuba 1998: As if death had been a dream, Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro, Havana

1999: The last day of last year, Museum of the Revolution, Havana 1999: Breaking the Silence, Hotel Melia Varadero and Havana Biennial VII

2000: You, the other people, Casa Simon Bolivar, La Habana 2001: Floating Islands, Headquarters of the UNEAC, Matanzas

2002: Within Limits, Center for Visual Arts, Matanzas 2003: Where the streets have no name, Technical Gallery, Asuncion, Paraguay

2004: Danger Zone, headquarters of the UNEAC, Matanzas 2005: Transgenics, Museo Palacio de Junco, Matanzas

2006: Transgenics II, Habana Art Gallery, London, England 2007: Liquid Dreams, Diario La Nacion, Santiago de Chile

He has won several awards, among them: Hall of the Arts Academy in 1986 and 1987, First Prize in the XI Hall of Landscape (2006) and Landscape Room XII (2007), in Havana. His works have been acquired

by private collectors in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Spain and other countries.

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