"I aim to render visible those bodies and histories that have been rendered invisible and have disappeared. In making the invisible visible and vice versa I aim to challenge those notions that keep people in the margins."
—Felipe BaezaCurrently receiving public attention following his first solo show at the Mistake Room in Los Angeles and inclusion in Desert X 2021 Biennial, Felipe Baeza’s work portrays the human body in various forms, while touching upon themes of migration, identity and belonging. Originally from Mexico and now living and working in New York, the artist reflects upon his own experiences as an immigrant trying to navigate the social implications of adopting to a foreign culture.
Executed in 2017, just one year before Baeza graduated from his MFA at Yale University, Xipe Tótec Rojo marks the artist’s debut at auction. Here, Baeza depicts Xipe Tótec, the Mayan god of spring who flayed himself for agricultural renewal. In taking the figure out of context and leaving him to float within an ambiguous earthy space, Baeza eliminates the ability to place the subject ethnographically, allowing the figure to speak for itself and thus materializing the idea of self-emancipation.
Felipe Baeza, Xipe Tótec Rojo, 2017 (detail) This work on paper is an exquisite example of his signature use of embroidered twine and layered paper collage to create fracturing of the body. “I exploit collage and printmaking elements to show how the body undergoes fragmentation or is pulled apart and dismembered, then reconstructed,” Baeza expressed. “This leads to questions I present such as how one honors those who are no longer with us and have disappeared in the process of migrating for a better life.”
Provenance
Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
301
Xipe Tótec Rojo
signed, titled and dated "XIPE TÓTEC ROJO FELIPE BAEZA 2017" on the reverse
ink, graphite, acrylic, twine, glitter, cut paper and egg tempera on 2 sheets of adjoined paper
60 1/2 x 43 3/4 in. (153.7 x 111.1 cm)
Executed in 2017.
Estimate
$10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $40,320
Rebekah Bowling
Head of Day Sale, Afternoon Session
New York
1 212 940 1250
rbowling@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session
New York Auction 24 June 2021
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