First U.K. institutional solo exhibition by Dominican American artist Firelei Báez at the South London Gallery.
This summer, New Curators are delighted to present the first U.K. institutional solo exhibition by Dominican American artist Firelei Báez (b. 1981, Dominican Republic) at the South London Gallery (SLG).
Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream) is Firelei Báez’s first solo exhibition in the UK. Known for her striking paintings, she also makes drawings, installations, and sculptures. Báez takes over the South London Gallery with new immersive installations and large abstract paintings. She uses rich colours, elements from nature, sound and light to reflect on complex colonial histories.
The exhibition is a journey through vibrant spaces where ecology, power, and resistance interact.
Through research and critical engagement with archives, Báez examines the legacies of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. For her, myths and folklore are tools of cultural and spiritual resistance. Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream) shares stories of the Ciguapa, a mythological figure from Dominican folklore; Atabey, the Taino mother earth spirit; Oshun, the Yoruba god of rivers, love, beauty, and prosperity; and Erzili, a spirit of love from Haitian Vodou.
These mythical figures invite viewers to reconsider what it means to be human, and to imagine freedom from earthly constraints an exhibition that invites visitors to envision the future with openness and collaboration.
“My works are propositions, meant to create alternate pasts and potential futures, questioning history and culture in order to provide a space for reassessing the present.” — Firelei Báez
The exhibition will be accompanied by a public programme and exhibition catalogue, which will be published later in 2024
Further Information: South London Gallery