Marta María Pérez Bravo - New Now New York Wednesday, February 28, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    106 Gallery, Austin
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Exhibited

    Valencia, Galeria Filomena Soares, Marta María Pérez Bravo - Galeria Cesar, November - December 2000, p. 41 (another example exhibited and illustrated)
    Gainesville, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida; Sarasota, John & Marble Ringling Museum of Art; Eugene, Jordan Schnitzer Museum, University of Oregon; Miami, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami; Katonah Museum of Art; Manitoba, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection, May 29, 2007 - January 10, 2011, p. 149 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    Marta María Pérez Bravo studied art at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. She moved to Mexico City in 1995 escaping the aftermath of the Cuban revolution of 1959. Early on, she employed her body as a vessel to reflect her cultural and religious perspectives, with particular focus on Santería and other Afro-Caribbean religions. Her signature photographs often depict staged self-portraits created in small format black-and-white film, allowing viewers a more intimate experience. Her representation of the female psychological experience separated her from other contemporary Cuban photographers, who mainly documented the participation of women in the military and economic production in the post-revolutionary press. Ya no hay corazón (Heartless) is part of her renowned series Cultos Paralelos (Parallel Cults) that she began in 1990. This self-portrait exemplifies her internal saga by depicting herself as the Afro-Cuban deity, Nkisi Nkonde, who possesses a worshiper’s body and grants petitions in exchange for offerings and promises. The nails both symbolize the devotion of the petitioners and the piercing of her heart, thus, making her heartless.

Contemporary Cuba: Works from a Private Collection

107

Ya no hay corazón (Heartless)

signed, titled and numbered "Ya no hay corazón 7/15 MM Pérez" on the reverse
gelatin silver print
20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm.)
Executed in 1999, this work is number 7 from an edition of 15.

Estimate
$2,000 - 3,000 

Sold for $3,500

Contact Specialist
Sam Mansour
Associate Specialist, Head of New Now Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1219
smansour@phillips.com

New Now

New York Auction 28 February 2018