Firelei Báez to Debut at Hauser & Wirth New York with New Works Signaling Shift Toward Atmospheric Environments

By Darren Smith, Arts Reporter

NEW YORK — April 12, 2026

NEW YORK — Firelei Báez, the Dominican-born, New York-based artist known for her vibrant, layered paintings that reimagine Afro-Caribbean diasporic histories through folklore, mythology, and speculative fiction, is set to present her first solo exhibition with Hauser & Wirth in New York. The show, opening May 12 and running through July 31, 2026, at the gallery’s 22nd Street location, will feature new paintings, works on paper, and a large-scale bronze sculpture spanning two floors.

The exhibition arrives at a pivotal moment for Báez, following her major mid-career survey—the first North American presentation of its kind—organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. That traveling show remains on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago through May 31, 2026, after stops in Vancouver and Des Moines. It has drawn widespread acclaim for its exploration of colonial legacies, resilience among marginalized communities, and alternate histories.

Gallery statements describe the upcoming New York presentation as marking a “notable shift” in Báez’s practice, moving away from a primary emphasis on the figure toward a more atmospheric and environmental register. New works will continue her signature approach of layering patterns, botanical imagery, and symbolic references drawn from Caribbean traditions over historical documents and maps, but with heightened focus on immersive, spatial environments.

Báez, born in 1980 in Santiago de los Caballeros to a Dominican mother and a father of Haitian descent, grew up navigating complex border identities on Hispaniola before moving to Miami at age eight. She earned a BFA from Cooper Union and an MFA from Hunter College, later attending the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her work consistently challenges fixed notions of race, gender, and nationality while celebrating creative agency and resistance.

“My works are speculative propositions, meant to create alternate pasts and potential futures, questioning history and culture in order to provide a space for reassessing the present,” Báez has stated in relation to her practice.

The Hauser & Wirth debut builds on recent momentum. In late 2025, Báez achieved new auction records, with a 2021 untitled work selling for over $1.1 million at Christie’s—more than five times its high estimate—shortly after another piece set a prior benchmark at Phillips. Her market visibility has risen alongside institutional recognition, including participation in the 59th Venice Biennale and major public commissions.

Curators and critics have praised Báez for her ability to blend rigorous historical research with joyful, defiant visual languages. Eva Respini, who curated the traveling survey (now deputy director at the Vancouver Art Gallery), has highlighted how the artist’s multilayered compositions invite viewers into worlds of struggle and empowerment. The Chicago presentation includes immersive installations, such as the large-scale A Drexcyen chronocommons (To win the war you fought it sideways) (2019), underscoring her command of both intimate and monumental scales.

As the art world continues to grapple with questions of representation, decolonization, and the role of speculative narratives in addressing contemporary crises, Báez’s evolving practice offers timely insight. Her shift toward environmental registers may reflect broader conversations around ecology, diaspora, and the body as landscape—intersections increasingly relevant in contemporary painting and sculpture.

The May opening reception is scheduled for 6–8 p.m. on May 12. The exhibition coincides with ongoing public programs tied to the MCA Chicago survey, including youth and family workshops focused on themes of archives, reflection, and shorelines.

Firelei Báez’s trajectory—from borderlands childhood to international acclaim—embodies the power of art to rewrite dominant narratives. Her forthcoming New York presentation promises to extend that inquiry into new atmospheric territories, reinforcing her position as one of the most compelling voices in painting today.

Darren Smith is an Arts Reporter at Art Chain News covering contemporary art, digital art and NFTs, body art, and the intersections between these fields.

This article is based on exhibition statements, direct reporting, and institutional analysis.