Firelei Báez, who is the Fall 2022 Alex Katz Chair in Painting and a 2004 alumna of the School of Art, presents a talk about her practice. Through her process of painting and drawing in layers of material and narrative, Báez unearth women’s stories in the African Diaspora. Image and literary research inform conversations about resistance, climate, and healing while making connections between humans and nature. In recent years, Báez’s work has expanded into immersive installations providing critical interventions across disciplines. 

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Firelei Báez (b. 1981, Dominican Republic) is an artist living and working in New York, NY. Báez’s work resides in several public and private collections and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Notable examples are ICA Boston, the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Studio Museum, Harlem, NY, and The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. The artist is currently included in the 59th International Venice Biennale exhibition “The Milk of Dreams,” curated by Cecilia Alemani. Further accolades include the Arts Mundi Prize (2021) and the Philip Guston Rome Prize (2021).

The Alex Katz Chair was founded in 1999 by the School of Art with generous support by alumnus Alex Katz. The Chair provides a one-semester visiting professorship to a distinguished artist working in the fields of Painting and Drawing.