The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of May 13, 2025

Untitled (Plate 36. Vertical and Latitudinal Distribution of Animal Life)
2022
(American, b. 1981)
226.7 x 271.1 x 3.8 cm (89 1/4 x 106 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
© Firelei Báez
Location: 229C Contemporary
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.- 2022Collection of the artist2023(James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)2023–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Báez, Firelei, Carla Acevedo-Yates, Mark Godfrey, Thelma Golden, Eva Respini, Legacy Russell. Firelei Báez : To Breathe Full and Free. New York: Gregory Miller & Company; New York: James Cohan, 2022.
- Contemporary Art Rotation - Spring 2023. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 7-September 24, 2023).
- {{cite web|title=Untitled (Plate 36. Vertical and Latitudinal Distribution of Animal Life)|url=false|author=Firelei Báez|year=2022|access-date=13 May 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.6