Untitled (Imperia sive Monarchiae totius Mundi praecipuae), 2022
Oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas
88 3/4 x 70 7/8 in.
225.4 x 180 cm
225.4 x 180 cm
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In Firelei Báez’s luminous painting, Untitled (Imperia sive Monarchiae totius Mundi praecipuae), 2022, a nude female figure takes a solemn knee, shrouded by a mass of unfurling marigold feathers. For...
In Firelei Báez’s luminous painting, Untitled (Imperia sive Monarchiae totius Mundi praecipuae), 2022, a nude female figure takes a solemn knee, shrouded by a mass of unfurling marigold feathers.
For Báez, the glowing mass of plumage is an ode the marvelous Brazilian manto tupinambá, brilliant red feather capes worn by the indigenous Tupinambá people, who thought of birds as sacred beings that could incarnate divine forces and also mediate between the living and the dead.
Beneath the painting is a copper engraving with a diagram of the reigning years of the most important monarchs in world history. Each ruler, from the Assyrian rulers to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II of Habsburg (1552 - 1612), is identified with letters and numbers with text in Latin and Dutch language. The circular table is surrounded by notes and mannerist strapwork that enclose vignettes depicting mementos of time, such as hour glasses.
The golden feathers bloom from the center of the canvas, obliterate the histories that timeline delineates. The feathers appear to infinitely unfold, troubling the notion of linear time and hinting at other ways of seeing not defined by prescriptive Euro-centric world histories. They also recall the myth of Icarus, foretelling the fate of those that fly too close to the sun.
For Báez, the glowing mass of plumage is an ode the marvelous Brazilian manto tupinambá, brilliant red feather capes worn by the indigenous Tupinambá people, who thought of birds as sacred beings that could incarnate divine forces and also mediate between the living and the dead.
Beneath the painting is a copper engraving with a diagram of the reigning years of the most important monarchs in world history. Each ruler, from the Assyrian rulers to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II of Habsburg (1552 - 1612), is identified with letters and numbers with text in Latin and Dutch language. The circular table is surrounded by notes and mannerist strapwork that enclose vignettes depicting mementos of time, such as hour glasses.
The golden feathers bloom from the center of the canvas, obliterate the histories that timeline delineates. The feathers appear to infinitely unfold, troubling the notion of linear time and hinting at other ways of seeing not defined by prescriptive Euro-centric world histories. They also recall the myth of Icarus, foretelling the fate of those that fly too close to the sun.
Exhibitions
James Cohan Tribeca, Americananana, October 27 – December 21, 2022