Untitled (Plate 36. Vertical and Latitudinal Distribution of Animal Life)

2022

Firelei Báez

(American, b. 1981)

Culture

America

Medium

Oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas

Measurements

226.7 x 271.1 x 3.8 cm (89 1/4 x 106 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds donated by Scott Mueller 2023.6

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The 1911 map used beneath this painting was sourced by the artist from the David Rumsey Map collection, an encyclopedic collection of historical maps and diagrams.

Description

The base layer of this painting is a reproduction of a 1911 map charting the distribution of animal life across the globe. On top of this historical imagery Firelei Báez poured paint whose chance spills she transformed into the shapes of plants, folkloric figures, and animals. Her resulting composition reimagines the spread of life throughout the world as a frenzied explosion of creation, untethered from rigid scientific study. Pulsing with life, the painting invites us to consider how global ecosystems are studied and how their inhabitants defy categorization.