New York/The Katonah Museum of Art (KMA), in the state of New York, will open the exhibition on October 18 Intermittent Islands: Four Caribbean Women Artists (Intermittent islands: four Caribbean artists), which will remain open until January 24, 2027. The exhibition brings together four creators from different Caribbean backgrounds whose works explore the relationships between memory, identity, displacement and belonging.
Among the participants, the Cuban Belkis Ayón (Havana, 1967-1999) stands out, internationally recognized for her collographies of intense contrasts between black, white and gray, inspired by the mythology of the Abakuá secret society. Although this Afro-Cuban fraternity is exclusively male, Ayón turned Sikán, a central female figure in its founding story, into the protagonist of a work that questions power relations, silence, exclusion and the construction of identity.
The exhibition also includes works by Yanira Collado, a Dominican artist born in Brooklyn in 1975 and living in Miami, who uses fabrics, wood, Caribbean soap and construction materials to create reliefs and sculptures that evoke architectural fragments, ritual objects and memories of loss and resistance.
For her part, Marielle Plaisir, a French and Guadeloupean artist established in Miami, presents paintings with dreamlike atmospheres and luminous collages that incorporate historical images of the Caribbean. Figures such as Josephine Baker and Jackie Robinson appear in his compositions, in a dialogue between the colonial past, Afro-descendant history and contemporary representations.
Completing the group is Lisa C Soto, an artist of Jamaican and Puerto Rican descent, born in Los Angeles in 1969, who works with structures woven from metal wires. Inspired by the teachings of her grandmother and the memory of the women in her family, her pieces evoke the kinship networks and connections between those who emigrated and those who remained in the Caribbean.
Organized by the Katonah Museum of Art and curated by Elizabeth Monti, the exhibition proposes a reading of the Caribbean as a territory of encounters and ruptures
Organized by the Katonah Museum of Art and curated by Elizabeth Monti, the exhibition proposes a reading of the Caribbean as a territory of encounters and ruptures, where personal experiences and collective histories intertwine to build new visual languages.
At the same time, the museum will present Sonja John: Balikbayana facility conceived specifically for the Pollack Family Learning Center. The artist, born in New York and of Jamaican, Trinidadian and Filipino descent, combines collage, stencils and light to explore migration, family memories and the relationships between nature and architecture. The installation, curated by Gabrielle Blumenthal, includes participatory activities and a collective light work.
The opening of the exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive program of activities. An advance presentation for members of the museum’s patron circle will be held on October 17 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. On Sunday the 18th, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, there will be a breakfast and tour exclusively for members. That same day, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm, artists Yanira Collado, Marielle Plaisir and Lisa C Soto will participate in a conversation moderated by curator Elizabeth Monti, dedicated to their creative processes, influences and reflections on identity and contemporary art.
Among the subsequent activities, a conference by art historian Edward J. Sullivan, professor at New York University, dedicated to the work of Belkis Ayón, stands out on November 8, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. The program also includes a family day dedicated to the cultural connections of the Caribbean, on November 15; printmaking, collage and weaving workshops; and a concert by the group Legacy Women, specializing in Afro-Caribbean musical traditions, on January 9, 2027. The museum offers guided tours from Wednesday to Sunday, from 2:30 to 3:30 pm.
Museum hours: Wednesday to Friday and Sunday, from 12:00 to 5:00 pm; Saturdays, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Registration and activity fees can be found on the official website of the Katonah Museum of Art.
