“Haitian paintings will drink the blood of the phoenix. And, with the epaulets of Dessalines, it will ventilate the world.” – André Breton
Luhring Augustine is pleased to present Ayiti Toma II: Faith, Family, and Resistance, an exhibition of Haitian art organized by artist Tomm El-Saieh in partnership with El-Saieh Gallery, Port-au-Prince, and CENTRAL FINE, Miami Beach. On view in our Tribeca location from November 2, 2024 – January 11, 2025, this project marks the first collaboration between Luhring Augustine and El-Saieh Gallery, and is a continuation of the collaboration between Luhring Augustine and CENTRAL FINE.
Ayiti Toma II is part of an ongoing series, conceived by Tomm El-Saieh, that will explore Haitian art and culture. The absence of a first iteration (Ayiti Toma I) represents the erased culture of the Taíno people who called the island Ayiti, a name which became the revolutionary-era moniker chosen for Haiti by its people. Meaning “land of the high mountains/From now onward, this land is our land,” Ayiti Toma encapsulates the country’s history of survival and renewal. In the presentation at Luhring Augustine, the work of artists from various generations explores the deep roots of faith, the rich legacy of family, and the indomitable spirit of resistance that define Haitian culture and its artistic traditions.
Faith and family are interwoven throughout the works of the modern masters of Haitian art. Reflecting the profound spiritual and cultural essence of Vodou, the paintings of André Pierre and the grand maître, Hector Hyppolite are rich in their references to the natural world and the frequent depictions of Lwa, spirits who serve as intermediaries between humans and the divine. The symbolism evident in the metal sculptures of Georges Liautaud, and his student Murat Brierre, reference a deep connection to the earth and respect for ancestorism, which are central principles of Vodou. The Obin Family School of Painting, which includes Philomé and Sénèque Obin, emphasize the quotidian with depictions of everyday street life and images of resistance. Turning inward to the setting of the home, Luce Turnier’s portraits of family and neighbors capture a familiarity of both her sitters and of the distinct Caribbean aesthetic of the environment.
The works of the living artists in this exhibition blend the forms of their predecessors with contemporary concerns. Frantz Zéphirin’s paintings portray the natural and spiritual realms with a controlled chaos; a nephew of Antoine Obin, his work uniquely reinvents the tradition of The Obin School of Painting and recalls the works of Pierre and Hyppolite. Inspired by colloquial language and expressions, the symbolism and figuration in Jean Hérard Celeur’s sculptures recall those of Liautaud and Brierre before him. The drapo of Myrlande Constant span the subjects of Vodou cosmology, history, and popular culture. Constant’s works are intricately beaded in her studio by her and her family, whereby artmaking and storytelling are ensured to be kept alive for future generations, as it has for the Obin family. In Haitian history, resistance can be traced as action against imperialism, a desire for national, religious, and cultural sovereignty, and as a passing-down of traditions and stories, which preserves memory and refuses oblivion.
Murat Brierre (1938 – 1988, Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was one of Haiti’s principal metal sculptors. His work has been exhibited internationally in venues such as Le Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI; Grand Palais, Paris, France; and SFO Museum, San Francisco, CA. His work is in the collections of Brooklyn Museum, NY; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; and Waterloo Center for the Arts, IA, among others.
Jean Hérard Celeur was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1966 is a leading Haitian artist. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as Grand Palais, Paris; Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL; CENTRAL FINE, Miami Beach, FL; and El-Saieh Gallery, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In 2011 his work was included in ILLUMInations, the 54th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Bice Curiger, and in 2022 Atis Rezistans, an artist collective that he is a founding member of, was part of documenta fifteen. With the Atis Rezistans collective Celeur has significantly contributed to the international attention Haitian art has received. He lives and works in Port-au-Prince.
Myrlande Constant was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1968, and is known for her beaded flags that recall the drapotradition of Haitian Vodou. Solo presentations of her work have been mounted in venues such as The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; CENTRAL FINE, Miami Beach, FL; and El-Saieh Gallery, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. In 2022 her work was included in The Milk of Dreams, the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Cecilia Alemani. Her work has also been featured in other group exhibitions as venues such as Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN; Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles, CA; Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, CA; Waterloo Center for the Arts, IA; Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; Faena Festival, Miami, FL; and Lowe Museum, Miami, FL. Her work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Perez Art Museum Miami, FL; Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN; de Young Museum, San Fransico, CA; and New Orleans Museum of Art, LA, among others. Her work is currently on view in the exhibition Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, NL. She lives and works in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Hector Hyppolite (b. 1894, Saint-Marc, Haiti – d. 1948, Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is widely considered the “grand maître” of Haitian Art. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; and Nottingham Contemporary, UK. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; and Seattle Art Museum, WA, among others. His work is currently on view in Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Georges Liautaud (b.1899 – d. 1991, Croix des Bouquets, Haiti) began metalworking as a blacksmith turned sculptor. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Grand Palais, Paris, France; Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Miami, FL; Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Figge Art Musuem, Davenport, IA; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; and the Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C., among others. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, France; Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; Waterloo Center for the Arts, IA; Le Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and the Musée d’Art Haïtien du College Saint Pierre, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, among others.
Philomé Obin (b. 1892, Bas-Limbé, Haiti – d. 1986, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) is a central figure in Haitian painting, whose work inspired the distinctive Cap-Haïtien school of painting. His works have been exhibited internationally at venues such as at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; and LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA. His works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Detroit Institute of Arts, MI; Waterloo Center for the Arts, IA; Seattle Art Museum, WA; Tampa Museum of Art, FL; Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH; and the Musée d’Art Haïtien du College Saint Pierre, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, among others. His work is currently featured in Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere, the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
Sénèque Obin (b. 1893, Limbé, Haiti – d. 1977, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) was an important figure in establishing the Cap-Haïtien school of painting. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as at Nottingham Contemporary, UK, and is in the collections of the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; American Folk Art Museum, Queens, NY; Waterloo Center for the Arts, IA; Wellin Museum of Art, Clinton, NY; and the Musée d’Art Haïtien du College Saint Pierre, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His work is currently featured in Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere,the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, and Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum at the Wellin Museum of Art, Clinton, NY.
André Pierre (b. 1916, Port-au-Prince, Haiti – d. 2005, Croix-des-Missions, Haiti) is one of the preeminent Haitian painters of his generation. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Grand Palais, Paris, France; Tampa Museum of Art, FL; Nottingham Contemporary, UK; and CENTRAL FINE, Miami Beach. His paintings are in the collections of the Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT; Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA; and Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ. His work is currently on view in Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti at The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Luce Turnier (b. 1924, Jamcel, Haiti – d. 1995, Paris, France) was one of the few female founding artists at Haiti's Centre d'Art. Her work has exhibited internationally in venues such as Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, France, and widely exhibited in venues throughout Germany in Bonn, Bremen, Hamburg, Munich, and Düsseldorf, and is part of the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, NY and the Musée d’Art Haïtien du College Saint Pierre, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Frantz Zéphirin was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti in 1968. Known for his paintings that draw inspiration from the Haitian aesthetic movement, Spiralism, he has had solo exhibitions at the Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA and CENTRAL FINE, Miami Beach FL, and has been featured in group exhibitions internationally such as the 59thInternational Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani in 2022, along with the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Nottingham Contemporary, UK. In 1996, he was awarded the Gold Medal in the Third Biennial of Caribbean and Central American Painting sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in the Dominican Republic. He received the Prince Claus Award in 2001 for his impact on the artistic landscape of Haiti. In 2012, he was awarded the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in France for his contribution to the arts and the international promotion of Haitian culture. Frantz Zéphirin lives and works in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
