Where Tears Can’t Stop

Carlos Alfonzo, Where Tears Can't Stop, 1986, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum, 1998.18, © 1986, Sena Toll Artigas
Carlos Alfonzo, Where Tears Can't Stop, 1986, acrylic on canvas, 95 34128 14 in. (243.2325.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum, 1998.18, © 1986, Sena Toll Artigas

Artwork Details

Title
Where Tears Can’t Stop
Date
1986
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
95 34128 14 in. (243.2325.8 cm.)
Copyright
© 1986, Sena Toll Artigas
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1998.18

Artwork Description

Alfonzo borrowed from Cuban Santería, medieval Catholic mysticism, and tarot cards to build a dense network of symbols floating in huge limpid tears. Where Tears Can't Stop reflects the violence that Alfonzo experienced before he fled with the Marielitos exiled by Castro in 1980. But the work also holds subtle clues that evoke Alfonzo's homosexuality and the fear and anger generated by the AIDS epidemic. In the mid-1980s, Americans coming to terms with thousands of deaths began to piece together enormous quilts—as the artist stitched together several canvases for this image—filling them with symbols of suffering, loss, and defiance. In Alfonzo's painting, the image of a tongue spiked by a dagger is a Santería charm against gossip and the "evil eye," two responses to HIV-positive men that were common in the epidemic's early years. Rumors and innuendo shaped the perception that AIDS was only a gay man's disease, and the evil eye recalls a widespread belief that the tears of the infected carried the virus. Alfonzo died of AIDS five years after he completed this work.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (70 items)

Bertha E. Jaques, The Temple, ca. 1916, etching, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.462
The Temple
Dateca. 1916
etching
Not on view
Bertha E. Jaques, Capitol in Winter, n.d., etching, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.461
Capitol in Winter
Daten.d.
etching
Not on view
Bertha E. Jaques, Venice Fishing Boats, 1910-1917, drypoint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.460
Venice Fishing Boats
Date1910-1917
drypoint
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Les Quais de la Seine a Paris
Date1917
hand-colored etching on postcard
Not on view