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

Firelei Báez has become a leading voice in her generation of Latinx artists. Her work addresses themes that include histories of colonization, popular culture, and the natural world. In this painting, the underlying map is a 1911 diagram of the distribution of animal life across the globe. Báez layered a vibrant and gestural painting over the map. Her 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 draws the viewer in and invites them to consider how the global biosphere is measured and quantified.