Firelei Báez “Bloodlines” Part of Miami Art Tour with Cartwheel Art Tours and Art Ambassador Tours

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The Perez Art Museum Miami is one of the stops for the Miami Art Tour with Cartwheel Art Tours and Art Ambassador Tours (#ArtTourMiami) during Miami Art Fair Week, where guests will get a special tour of “Bloodlines,” a large scale exhibition of paintings by Firelei Báez, presented by the organizing curator.

Born in the Dominican Republic, and the recipient of numerous awards for her painting, Báez explores the African diaspora from the perspective of women, utilizing feminine symbols and experiences–including representing hair and body ornaments, repurposing traditional indigo dye and patterns, and incorporating anthropology, science fiction, and “traditional” arts and crafts like needlework. Her paintings are labor intensive, delicate and rich in color, deeply detailed and evocative.

Tracing the history of social movements in the Unites States and the Caribbean, the works in “Bloodlines” are inspired by lineages of black resistance. Best known for her large-scale works on paper, Báez makes connections that further the understanding of diasporic experiences by interweaving the lives of 18th century black women in Louisiana and the Cuban roots of the Latin American azabache with symbols used in the U.S. during the tumultuous 1960s. “Bloodlines “showcases paintings and drawings specifically depicting textiles, hair designs, and body ornaments, linking traditionally loaded symbols with individual human gestures.

Báez overlays past and potential histories, enriching obscured narratives of black experience and resistance, yet moving to a place where skin tone is no longer a sufficient signifier of race.

Top: Man Without a Country

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firelei_bez_crewel_2013Crewel

firelei_bez_bloodlines_past_forces_of_oppressionBloodlines: Past Forces of Oppression

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