Felipe Baeza

Studio blog, brooklyn

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Ahuehuete de día y de noche, 2017

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El Chico de Las Flores

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“I spent so long trying to know English to find out that English doesn’t care” Wo Chan

2016

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6. Desnudo Femenino Procede del Estado de Nayarit. Cultura Nayarita Colección Diego Rivera 2016

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In their crisp and understated execution, Felipe Baeza’s works on paper collapse centuries of colonialism, cultural erasure, and different forms of subjugation into a distinctly contemporary visual idiom. His series of “Post-Colonial Objects” and “Objectos de la Nueva España,” for example, synthesize images of precolumbian art with very real, very queer male bodies in shackles and chains. Are these slaves and prisoners, suffering under Spanish or American oppression? Or are these men participating in a sadomasochistic sexual subculture? The ambiguity seems intentional, as does the dark humor, best evidenced by his drawing of an anally inserted Jesus on the cross. In Baeza’s hands these playful, unsubtle interventions become a direct strategy for grappling with horrific histories, suggesting that all forms of social marginalization are, at least to some degree, connected to the desire to colonize lands, cultures, peoples, and bodies.

Felipe Baeza, Objeto de la Nueva España 3, 2012

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Felipe Baeza

I will not glorify those aspects of my culture which

have injured me in the name of protecting me I, 2015

7" x 5"

Collage on paper

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Collage material

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Work in progress

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Thrilled to have my work featured in the latest edition of Ping Pong, The literary journal of the Henry Miller Library. In great company of phenomenal artists and writers.

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Mictlantecuhtli seated nude

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Wall in progress.

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Post-Colonial Object of Desire 5, Collage on handmade abaca paper, 2014

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Felipe Baeza in Uncompromising Tang

Felipe Baeza’s art is beautiful and irreverent. He challenges people to think about the messy entanglements of religion, sexuality, and the ongoing legacy of colonialism and white supremacy. I think his art is powerful and necessary because it disrupts the status quo and reminds people of the daily violence that undocumented immigrants, queer people, and people of color experience. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to interview him for Uncompromising Tang and to share his art with people who might not already be familiar with his work.

Sufres Porque Quieres, 2012, collage, 4 x 6 in., courtesy of Felipe Baeza.

“In many respects, my family’s experience mirrors the stories of many immigrants, especially those from Latin America: my parents fled poverty, corruption, and violence in hopes of providing their children with a better life. When we first arrived, we did not expect that our experience would resemble what we were trying to escape: as undocumented immigrants we had invisible lives and we lived in a low-income community plagued with a host of social and health problems. However, against many barriers, I managed to navigate the Chicago public school system, which led to a full ride at Cooper Union in New York City. If it weren’t for Cooper Union and the help from my parents I don’t think I would have gone to college or even left Chicago.”

Read the rest of the interview here.

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Felipe Baeza

Post-Colonial Object of Desire 5, 2015

Collage and acrylic on paper

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Felipe Baeza

New painting in progress

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Felipe  Baeza

I’ll be showing some collages in “(Un)Mediated” (A group exhibition) Curated by David Rios Ferreira and Christine Walia, From November 1st-December 13th 2014, at Kunsthalle Galapagos, 111 Front Street #222, Brooklyn, New York 11201 Opening Reception: Saturday, November 1st, 6-9pm Participating artists: Felipe Baeza, Rina Banerjee, Mitsuko Brooks, Cecile Chong, Juan Hinojosa, Rachel Meuler, Lina Puerta, Nyugen Smith, Jennifer Williams, Saya Woolfalk