In Conversation: Firelei Báez and Essence Harden

On the occasion of ‘Firelei Báez. The fact that it amazes me does not mean I relinquish it,’ the Downtown Los Angeles gallery hosted a talk with artist Firelei Báez and independent curator Essence Harden. For her first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth since joining the gallery in 2023, Báez presents new large-scale canvases, drawings and her first-ever bronze sculpture at the gallery’s Downtown Arts District center in Los Angeles. Complex and layered, Báez’s work depicts fantastical hybrid figures and reimagined worlds. Employing beauty to reprocess the enduring effects of violence and trauma, Báez challenges traditional representations of history, nationality, gender and race. United by common cause, the paintings incorporate a wide range of subjects including art history, science fiction, anthropology, pop culture, folklore and fantasy.

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Hauser & Wirth is an international contemporary and modern art gallery with spaces in Zurich, London, Somerset, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Gstaad, St. Moritz, Monaco, Menorca, Paris and Basel.

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