Ana Mercedes Hoyos - Latin America New York Thursday, May 23, 2013 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

  • Catalogue Essay

    Among the most distinguished Colombian artists, Ana Mercedes Hoyos’ early work was highly influenced by Pop Art, as seen through her use of bold color and iconic cultural symbols to explore issues of race in 1960’s Latin America. Amnong her primary interests are Colombia’s Afro-Caribbean communities and their particular historical condition subjected to the chains of slavery and determined by the struggle for freedom. Hoyos' artistic approach was inspired by the region of Palenque de San Basílico, a village near Cartagena founded in the seventeenth century by fugitive slaves in search of cultural and political autonomy. She is well known for her still life paintings of fruit and palenqueras (female fruit vendors). An important aspect of her work focuses on the garments that young ladies wear in processions during the celebration of Saint Basílico’s feast.

    In the present lot Hoyos illustrates a simple, everyday form: a knotted bow tied around a young palenquera’s waist. She embraces this visual detail and expands the form with pink and gold pop colors to highlight the complex folds and gathers of the knotted ribbon. Through her use of acrylic paint she draws the contours of her motifs, attaining abstractions of such elements through her choice of composition, while maintaining the representative vibrancy of the colors of the clothes. These graceful images emphasize the folds as signs of gallantry, vanity and coquettishness. Furthermore, they also refer metaphorically to social mechanisms of control over the female body, the knot being a gesture of restraint that alludes to the memory of a community that, for over a hundred years, faced the abuses of slavery.

COLOMBIA

64

Ñuro di Vitilo di Monasità

2012
acrylic on linen, in two parts
each 19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (50.2 x 50.2 cm.)
Each signed and dated "hoyos 12" right turnover edge.

Estimate
$12,000 - 18,000 

Sold for $12,500

Contact Specialist
Henry Allsopp
Worldwide Director, Latin American Art
latinamerica@phillips.com
+ 1 212 940 1216

Latin America

New York 23 May 2013 4pm