.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Critics believed Hector Hyppolite’s art was purely decorative and relegated it to a design aesthetic solely based on his joyous decorative work on the doors for a bar in the northwestern town of Montrouis. However, after studying his production during a brief professional career, it is evident that his paintings are endowed with symbolic meaning which, empower a people to express its collective imagination, and construct a vision of the world. Thus, the perception presented by the artist should not be interpreted as naïve imagery representing the world, but as an organization of signs based on technique, and ideas within a particular society at a specific crossroads.
Colonial powers and, later government and Catholic institutions were determined to eradicate Voodoo. To ease the pressure imposed on them, most Voodoo devotees adhered to the Catholic faith. In doing so, they created common rituals and iconographic references. Their superimposition of the lwas or Voodoo deities onto images of the Catholic saints introduced a new visual imagery into Haitian religious art. The representation of the lwas was then no longer limited to their vèvès or individual symbols. (These specific and emblematic ground drawings made inside the peristyle executed during ceremonies by the celebrant and thereafter destroyed, leaving no trace whatsoever that could induce repression against such outlawed practices.)
Hector Hyppolite created a very personal iconography of the Voodoo pantheon by conflating these Catholic images. Through them, he fashioned the perfect balance between his aesthetic interests, and references to nature, and also his faith. The French poet André Breton first discovered the art of Hector Hyppolite in 1945 and suggested he could greatly contribute to the French surrealist movement. Breton certainly understood that, in Hyppolite’s oeuvre certain elements, not normally found together, coalesced to construct illogical and startling connections.
Hyppolite’s representation of a serpent, for instance, is derived from his own personal religious tradition—his devotion to Damballah who is venerated and depicted in the form of a serpent. (Many years ago, the lwa was present in hounfors (voodoo temples) in the form of a living snake kept in an earthenware container and taken out on days of ceremonies. Today, the lwa is represented most often by wrought iron snakes, sometimes by two intertwined serpents around the Poto-mitan (the central pole), and by their vèvè, drawn during ceremonies.) Damballah has a dual nature; he is male, Damballah Wèdo, and female, as Aida Wèdo (see Planson, Un initié parle, Ed J’ai Lu (Aventure mystérieuse), Paris, 1974, p.125). And, they both are part of the Rada family where generous and benevolent deities are found.
Furthermore, through the representation of a serpent, the painting also exhibits sensual and perceptible attributes such as the head and breasts of a woman. Luxurious draperies bear witness to the greatness of the figure among other lwas. This may lead or confuse the viewer to perceive or interpret the painting as a portrait of Aida Wèdo. That would be an assumption, however, since among the titles given to this rendering is that of Damballah-le-Flambeau.
Like other lwas of the Rada family, deemed good-natured and dependable, Damballah can transform himself from his origins and become part of the so-called Petro family considered to be cunning, hot-tempered, and exhibiting aggressive characteristics. Damballah’s antonym, which therefore shares the characteristics of the Petros, is called Damballa-le-Flambeau who is said to be androgynist. Thus, he can easily pretend to be a woman such as the subject of this portrait (or representation).
The complexity and diversity of such images is not unusual but rather, essentially evident due to the coexistence of opposite elements: the image (objective naturalism - the outer world) and the symbolism (imagination, fantasy - inner world).
Gerald Alexis, art historian and author.
Colonial powers and, later government and Catholic institutions were determined to eradicate Voodoo. To ease the pressure imposed on them, most Voodoo devotees adhered to the Catholic faith. In doing so, they created common rituals and iconographic references. Their superimposition of the lwas or Voodoo deities onto images of the Catholic saints introduced a new visual imagery into Haitian religious art. The representation of the lwas was then no longer limited to their vèvès or individual symbols. (These specific and emblematic ground drawings made inside the peristyle executed during ceremonies by the celebrant and thereafter destroyed, leaving no trace whatsoever that could induce repression against such outlawed practices.)
Hector Hyppolite created a very personal iconography of the Voodoo pantheon by conflating these Catholic images. Through them, he fashioned the perfect balance between his aesthetic interests, and references to nature, and also his faith. The French poet André Breton first discovered the art of Hector Hyppolite in 1945 and suggested he could greatly contribute to the French surrealist movement. Breton certainly understood that, in Hyppolite’s oeuvre certain elements, not normally found together, coalesced to construct illogical and startling connections.
Hyppolite’s representation of a serpent, for instance, is derived from his own personal religious tradition—his devotion to Damballah who is venerated and depicted in the form of a serpent. (Many years ago, the lwa was present in hounfors (voodoo temples) in the form of a living snake kept in an earthenware container and taken out on days of ceremonies. Today, the lwa is represented most often by wrought iron snakes, sometimes by two intertwined serpents around the Poto-mitan (the central pole), and by their vèvè, drawn during ceremonies.) Damballah has a dual nature; he is male, Damballah Wèdo, and female, as Aida Wèdo (see Planson, Un initié parle, Ed J’ai Lu (Aventure mystérieuse), Paris, 1974, p.125). And, they both are part of the Rada family where generous and benevolent deities are found.
Furthermore, through the representation of a serpent, the painting also exhibits sensual and perceptible attributes such as the head and breasts of a woman. Luxurious draperies bear witness to the greatness of the figure among other lwas. This may lead or confuse the viewer to perceive or interpret the painting as a portrait of Aida Wèdo. That would be an assumption, however, since among the titles given to this rendering is that of Damballah-le-Flambeau.
Like other lwas of the Rada family, deemed good-natured and dependable, Damballah can transform himself from his origins and become part of the so-called Petro family considered to be cunning, hot-tempered, and exhibiting aggressive characteristics. Damballah’s antonym, which therefore shares the characteristics of the Petros, is called Damballa-le-Flambeau who is said to be androgynist. Thus, he can easily pretend to be a woman such as the subject of this portrait (or representation).
The complexity and diversity of such images is not unusual but rather, essentially evident due to the coexistence of opposite elements: the image (objective naturalism - the outer world) and the symbolism (imagination, fantasy - inner world).
Gerald Alexis, art historian and author.