On Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 6 PM EST, please join Bronx-based artists (and next-door studio neighbors) Firelei Báez and Derek Fordjour in conversation about their painting practices. Rendering her subjects in complex layers of pattern and imagery, Báez casts cultural and regional histories into an imaginative realm, where visual references drawn from the past are reconfigured to explore new possibilities for the future. Issues of race, identity, and inequality are central to Fordjour's practice. He employs layers of cardboard, newspaper, and paint, to create a highly intricate visual materiality.
Rendering her subjects in complex layers of pattern and imagery, Firelei Báez (Visual Arts Fellow 2013-2014) – born in the Dominican Republic and living and working in New York – casts cultural and regional histories into an imaginative realm, where visual references drawn from the past are reconfigured to explore new possibilities for the future. Báez is shortlisted for Artes Mundi 9, and will be the subject of a solo presentation at the ICA Watershed, Boston, MA in June 2021. In 2019, the artist's work was the subject of solo exhibitions at the Mennello Museum of Art, Orlando, FL, the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and the Modern Window at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Derek Fordjour was born in Memphis, Tennessee to parents of Ghanaian heritage. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Hyperallergic. He has also been featured in several publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair and Forbes Magazine. His work appears in several collections including The Studio Museum of Harlem, Brooklyn Museum, Perez Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum and LACMA.
"Opening to Wonder" virtual event series provides crucial support to the Work Center. All of our presenters are donating their time, giving back to the Work Center which as been a gift to artists for over 50 years. We hope you will consider donating what you can and journey with us into wonder.
All funds raised through registration will provide much-need operating support for the Work Center. If you are financially unable to make the minimum $25 donation, please email virtualevents@fawc.org.