Firelei Báez
This is Firelei Báez’s first North American survey, presenting 30+ works spanning nearly two decades of her multidisciplinary practice. Originally shown at Boston’s ICA and Vancouver Art Gallery, this tour round completes at Des Moines
Dates: June 13 – September 21, 2025
Location: Des Moines Art Center, 4700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA, in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery (with works also in W.T. & Edna Dahl galleries and the I.M. Pei building)
Visiting Hours: Open daily; main building hours 10 am–5 pm (some days until 7 pm)
Exhibition Description
Báez’s richly layered work draws from colonial archives, folklore, science fiction, geography, and materials like architectural plans, star maps, and tarps. She challenges narratives of race, gender, and nationality through saturated color, pattern, and sculptural environments. Highlights include immersive installations and early, powerful self-portrait series on Yupo paper that reference the historical paper-bag test
Gallery
