The Artist’s Voice: Firelei Báez

One of the most exciting painters of her generation, Firelei Báez makes work that explores the multilayered legacy of colonial histories and the African diaspora in the Caribbean and beyond. Her exuberant paintings feature finely wrought, complex, and layered uses of pattern, decoration, and saturated color, often overlaid on maps made during colonial rule in the Americas. On the opening night of her first North American museum survey, Báez looks back at her remarkable artistic practice, including her 2021 ICA Watershed installation. Báez is joined by Julie Crooks, Curator of the Arts of Global Africa and Diaspora at the Art Gallery of Ontario; and Ruth Erickson, Barbara Lee Chief Curator at the ICA.