María Berrío: A Feast for Ammit

    A solo presentation at The Armory Show
    Booth 100
    7–10 September 2023
    (preview: 7 September; public days 8–10 September)

    Victoria Miro is delighted to participate in The Armory Show (Booth 100) with a solo presentation of new works by the acclaimed Brooklyn-based artist María Berrío.

    María Berrío is celebrated for works that draw on aspects of mythology and folklore to create narratives that address contemporary issues of identity, agency and survival. Created especially for this presentation, the works on view feature imagined scenes from A Feast for Ammit, a fictitious, three-act play devised by the artist that tells a story of intrigue, infatuation and, ultimately, tragedy.

    Archetypal themes of the search or quest, along with the rituals and symbolism of the mask, envelop these works, in which aspects of character and narrative tension are built through composition and the choreography of space. As always in Berrío’s work, imagery comes first, inspiring a story which the artist then creates. In these psychologically charged scenes costumed figures are seen against monochrome backgrounds that accentuate exquisite areas of Japanese paper and watercolour paint, lending an intensity that mirrors the play’s heightened atmosphere of restless obsession and fatal desire.

    Click below for the artist’s envisioning of A Feast for Ammit, including details of an imagined cast and crew and its New York premiere.

    A Feast for Ammit opened on October 12, 2022, at the Duat Theater in New York City, with the following cast:

    Echo: Sofia Gutierrez
    Eris: Catherine Butler
    Naraka: Josefina Menendez
    Madame Koi Koi: Regina Knight
    The Water Bearer: Ivan Kessler
    Calypso Jones: Amelia Endor
    Trapped Spirit: Yukio Abe
    Chorus: Jessica Parra, Kimiko Kawabata, Solange Pierre, Eddie Mars, Sara Anderson
    Director: Sor Juana Azurduy
    Settings: María Berrío
    Costumes: Lucia Perez
    Lighting: Vera Zasulich, Neas Salavarrieta

    A Feast for Ammit is a three act play. It tells the story of a young woman, Echo, who meets another woman, Eris, and quickly becomes intrigued by her. Though it was only a chance encounter, Echo finds herself thinking of this other woman often, and, after some searching, manages to find Eris again. It is during this second meeting that Eris confides in Echo that she is a Masked One. Echo, already captivated by Eris, now becomes even more so with this revelation, and becomes infatuated with the mask.

    Echo’s infatuation grows with each passing day. She forms a bouquet made of flowers, seahorses, and anemones and takes to carrying it everywhere she goes in the hope she will happen to encounter her, while nights are spent bemoaning her unworthiness of Eris. An obsession blossoms, one that comes to consume all aspects of her life. Eventually Echo, burning with what she feels is unrequited love, comes to the conclusion that she must become a Masked One as well in order to procure the affection of Eris.

    Echo pays a visit to Naraka the thaumaturge in order to obtain a mask. Naraka reveals that there is a ritual one is required to undergo first. Those who desire to become Masked Ones must first have their souls deemed worthy. Their hearts must be weighed against the weight of a feather. For those whose hearts are impure, their souls will be forever lost.

    Naraka also warns that while all may receive the mask, some have indeed lost their souls in order to obtain them, a group she refers to as the Vacants. She also warns her that love is impossible among the Vacants, as a soul is a requirement for love. Heedless of any warnings, Echo agrees to undergo the ritual, and is then gifted a mask.

    Gift in hand, she takes it home and agonises for some time over actually donning it. She is terrified to do so. She tells herself that the leap into love is supposed to be a terrifying thing, and that making oneself vulnerable is essential to truly love another. Finally gathering up enough courage, she puts on the mask. Instantly she feels an emptiness flood her entire self. She is hollowed out, and to her dismay she realises that her heart had not been pure. She has become a Vacant.

    Unsettled though she is by this turn of events, she is still overjoyed that she is now worthy of Eris, and hunts her down. Echo is received warmly, and they embrace affectionately. In their bubbling excitement, Eris explains that she is deeply grateful and indebted to Echo, for when Eris had undergone the ritual to become a Masked One, she had lost her soul in the process, and had been doomed to lovelessness.

    Echo screams into the void, utterly devastated to learn that they are both Vacants. Grief struck, she bemoans the cruelty of her fate, then commits suicide by seppuku.


    A Feast for Ammit

    Collage with Japanese papers and watercolor paint on linen
    61 x 61 cm
    24 x 24 in

    María Berrío, Act I, Scene 2: Forbidden Colors, 2023

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    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    61 x 61 cm
    24 x 24 in

    María Berrío, Act I, Scene 3: Locusts and Wild Honey, 2023

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    A Feast for Ammit tells the story of a young woman, Echo, who meets another woman, Eris, and quickly becomes intrigued by her.’


    MB2

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    125.1 x 94.6 cm
    49 1/4 x 37 1/4 in

    María Berrío, Act I, Scene 5: Confessions of a Mask, 2023

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    ‘It is during their second meeting that Eris confides in Echo that she is a Masked One. Echo, already captivated by Eris, now becomes even more so with this revelation, and becomes infatuated with the mask.’


    MB3

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    178.1 x 203.2 cm
    70 1/8 x 80 in

    María Berrío, Act II, Scene 1: Soft Thorns, Kneeling Flowers, 2023

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    ‘An obsession blossoms… Eventually Echo, burning with what she feels is unrequited love, comes to the conclusion that she must become a Masked One as well in order to procure the affection of Eris.’


    MB4

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    178.1 x 203.2 cm
    70 1/8 x 80 in

    María Berrío, Act II, Scene 2: All Gods are Carnivorous, 2023

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    ‘Those who desire to become Masked Ones must first have their souls deemed worthy. Their hearts must be weighed against the weight of a feather. For those whose hearts are impure, their souls will be forever lost… Heedless of any warnings, Echo agrees to undergo the ritual, and is then gifted a mask.’


    MB5

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    129.5 x 89.5 cm
    51 x 35 1/4 in

    María Berrío, Act II, Scene 4: Threshold, 2023

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    ‘Gift in hand, she takes it home and agonises for some time over actually donning it. She is terrified to do so. She tells herself that the leap into love is supposed to be a terrifying thing, and that making oneself vulnerable is essential to truly love another.’


    MB6

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    125.1 x 94.6 cm
    49 1/4 x 37 1/4 in

    María Berrío, Act III, Scene 1: Orchestra of the Departed, 2023

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    ‘Finally gathering up enough courage, she puts on the mask. Instantly she feels an emptiness flood her entire self. She is hollowed out, and to her dismay she realises that her heart had not been pure. She has become a Vacant.’


    MB7

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    210.2 x 127 cm
    82 3/4 x 50 in

    María Berrío, Act III, Scene 3: El Viento Empanaba Espejos, 2023

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    ‘Unsettled though she is by this turn of events, she is still overjoyed that she is now worthy of Eris, and hunts her down.’


    MB8

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    202.6 x 178.1 cm
    79 3/4 x 70 1/8 in

    María Berrío, Act III, Scene 4: Seppuku, 2023

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    ‘In their bubbling excitement, Eris explains that she is deeply grateful and indebted to Echo, for when Eris had undergone the ritual to become a Masked One, she had lost her soul in the process, and had been doomed to lovelessness. Echo screams into the void, utterly devastated to learn that they are both Vacants.’


    MB Bouquet

    Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on linen
    28 x 32 in
    71.1 x 81.3 cm

    María Berrío, Bouquet for Nereids, 2023

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    About the artist

    Photo: Kyle Dorosz

    María Berrío was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1982, completed her BFA at Parsons School of Design in 2004, and her MFA at the New York School of Visual Arts.

    Major solo exhibitions include María Berrío: The Children’s Crusade, ICA Boston, USA (2023); María Berrío: Esperando mientras la noche florece (Waiting for the Night to Bloom), The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA (2021). Institutional group exhibitions include Spirit in the Land, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA (2023); Women Painting Women, The Modern, Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2022); A Natural Turn, The DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, USA (2022); Born in Flames: Feminist Futures, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, USA (2021); Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020, University Art Museum at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA (2020); Present Tense: Recent Gifts of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA (2019); People Get Ready at Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina, USA (2018); Prospect.4 Triennial, New Orleans, USA (2017–2018), Art on Paper Biennial, Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA (2017), CUT N MIX, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, USA (2015).

    Berrío’s work is in permanent collections including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, USA; Dallas Museum of Art, USA; LACMA, USA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA; Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, USA; Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York, NY, USA; Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, Florida, USA; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, USA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA; Weatherspoon Museum of Art at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA; Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China.

    Additionally, her work can also be seen in the public realm at the N subway stop at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, where 14 of the artist’s works have been translated in mosaic using a variety of media including glass, ceramic and enamel.



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