Beneath this explosive, chromatic abstraction by Firelei Báez lies a celestial diagram, first published in Henri Chatelain's Atlas Historique (1718). An ambitious and beautifully presented work, the Atlas Historique was...
Beneath this explosive, chromatic abstraction by Firelei Báez lies a celestial diagram, first published in Henri Chatelain's Atlas Historique (1718). An ambitious and beautifully presented work, the Atlas Historique was intended for the use of the general public, fascinated in the early eighteenth century by the recently conquered colonies. In response to these curiosities, distant lands, such as the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Mongolia, China, Japan, and Indonesia, take an important place in this work. The diagram itself contains 11 astronomical representations with accompanying explanations, including a celestial hemisphere chart, an armillary sphere, a small double hemisphere terrestrial map, and charts of the solar system and planets.
In the overlaying painting, entitled Untitled (Premiere Carte Pour L'Introduction A L'Histoire Du Monde), the thick, glossy pours of paint almost completely obscure these diagrams and the related text. The undulating streams of paint mimic the swirling eye of a hurricane or an exploding super nova. Indeed, while completing this painting, Báez was inspired by the fantastical images from the James Webb telescope, the latest technological advancement in astronomy. For Báez this gestural, bodily painting becomes a meditation on the limitations of scientific study in any age and how much more there is to see.