Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
THE CAPTIVATING WORK of Firelei Báez (b. 1981) is an exercise in world building. Engaging with mythology, folklore, and history, Báez explores the powerful legacies of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. Born in the Dominican Republic, she lives and works in New York. “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream)” at South London Gallery is the artist’s first solo institutional exhibition in the UK. The show presents a series of large-scale abstract paintings and immersive installations. Channeling natural and spiritual realms, the works envelope viewers in an explosion of vibrant color and the presence of a fascinating female mythologic figure. “I wanted to work with the figure of the Ciguapa, which is this folkloric trickster figure from the Caribbean, specifically from the island I’m from, the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti,” Båez said in the video below. “What I wanted was for that figure to frolic and rebel and be unruly and so I am creating through installation and painting and sculpture different ways of expressing that energy.” CT
“Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream)” is on view at South London Gallery in London, UK, from June 28-Sept. 8, 2024. The exhibition is curated by the inaugural cohort of New Curators fellows. Based at South London Gallery, the program “offers aspiring curators from lower socio-economic backgrounds” one year of intensive curatorial training with pay
FIND MORE about the exhibition
FIND MORE about Firelei Báez on Instagram and at Hauser & Wirth gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
During a studio visit, Firelei Báez talks about her practice and exhibition at South London Gallery, the artist’s first solo institutional show in the UK. | Video by South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Detail of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Detail of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
Installation view of “Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream),” 2024. South London Gallery, London, UK | Photo by Above Ground, Courtesy South London Gallery
BOOKSHELF
Two new volumes provide an comprehensive introduction to Firelei Báez. “Firelei Báez: Trust Memory over History” documents an exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark (2023-24). “Firelei Báez” is edited by Eva Respini, with a foreword by Jill Medvedow, and texts by Jessica Bell Brown, Julie Crooks, Hallie Ringle, and Katy Siegel, among others. “Firelei Báez: to breathe full and free,” the first major monograph of Báez, is edited by David Norr and features contributions by Mark Godfrey, Carla Acevedo-Yates, and Legacy Russell with interviews of the artist conducted by Eva Respini and Thelma Golden. “Firelei Báez: Bloodlines” was published to accompany the first solo museum exhibition dedicated to Baez. Organized by the Pérez Art Museum Miami (2015-16) the exhibition traveled to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (2017). The catalog includes contributions by Naima Keith and Roxane Gay.
