The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 13, 2025

Abstract oil and acrylic painting in frenzied layers of pink, orange, and yellow over a map with grid lines barely visible on the edges. Just legible on the top of the map underlayer are the words "VERTICAL AND LATITUDINAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMAL LIFE." Swirls of blotchy purple paint like tentacles dominate the upper right corner, fluffy strings of yellow the lower right, on a plane of frenetic pink and red strokes occasionally specked with yellow.

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

2022
(American, b. 1981)
America
Oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas
226.7 x 271.1 x 3.8 cm (89 1/4 x 106 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
Purchased with funds donated by Scott Mueller 2023.6
© 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.
  • 2022
    Collection of the artist
    2023
    (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