Firelei Báez

July 3–September 6, 2021
ICA Watershed

Firelei Báez

The ICA Watershed features a newly commissioned, monumental sculpture by acclaimed artist Firelei Báez (b. 1981, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic). In her largest installation to date, Báez reimagines the archeological ruins of the Sans-Souci Palace in Haiti as though they were revealed in East Boston after the sea receded from the Watershed floor. Báez embeds Sans-Souci within the geological layers of Boston, where histories of revolution and independence are integral to the city’s identity. The work’s intricately painted architectural surfaces include symbols of healing and resistance, patterning drawn from West African indigo printing traditions (also used in the American South), and sea growths native to Caribbean waters.
Organized by Eva Respini, Barbara Lee Chief Curator.