James Cohan Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
Menu
  • Artworks

    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020
    FIRELEI BÁEZ, The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020

    The fire and burn with eyes that see, 2020

    Oil and acrylic on canvas
    48 x 36 in
    121.9 x 91.4 cm

    Further images

    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 6) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 7) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 8) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 9) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 10) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 11) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 12) Thumbnail of additional image
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 13) Thumbnail of additional image
    Firelei Báez casts diasporic histories into an imaginative realm, re-working visual references drawn from the past to explore new possibilities for the future. Drawing visual cues from folklore, sci-fi, and...
    Read more
    Firelei Báez casts diasporic histories into an imaginative realm, re-working visual references drawn from the past to explore new possibilities for the future. Drawing visual cues from folklore, sci-fi, and fantasy, her paintings frequently portray change-making creatures that inhabit fictional alternate universes with a stance of self-determination. Central to this work is the feminine-archetypal ciguapa, a trickster from Dominican folklore who, for Báez, embodies the potential to defy oppressive convention and break through generations of karmic loads. As a child, Báez was raised hearing stories of the creatures told as a warning: "you can’t be too wild, too much of nature, don't be too independent. Everything that’s inscribed onto that figure becomes the antithesis of ideal femininity." However, she explains, "as a kid I’d think, 'There's so much freedom in that, why would I not want to be that? Why would I not want to be untraceable and fearless?'" Shown here with lustrous manipulated hair, the figure serves as a shape-shifting agent for change. Crouching in a strikingly active and self-reliant posture, the character becomes “so possessed of her body that she can easily, acrobatically, move between spaces.”

    Exhibitions

    CARNIVALESCA - What painting might be, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany, February 27 – May 2, 2021.

    Close full details
    Inquiry
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EThe%20fire%20and%20burn%20with%20eyes%20that%20see%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2020%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%20and%20acrylic%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E48%20x%2036%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A121.9%20x%2091.4%20cm%3C/div%3E
Copyright © 2021 James Cohan Gallery
Site by Artlogic