Hauser & Wirth Recruits Dominican-born Artist Firelei Báez

Firelei Báez b. 1981, Republic of Dominica Follow +

Dominican-born American artist Firelei Báez, who is known for her immersive paintings, and installations that explore diasporic histories and revise colonial narratives—has joined Hauser & Wirth‘s roster of artists.

‘Firelei takes on history and transforms it into poetry— visual, visceral, technically inventive, breathtaking works of art that go beyond merely telling us something, to fully enveloping and implicating us,’ said Marc Payot, President of Hauser & Wirth.

‘By consistently reasserting the importance of the Caribbean in the wider context of world history and revealing the pervasive presence and impact of Caribbean and Black cultures that have been previously obscured, her art demands we become more astute world citizens,’ he said.

Báez will hold her first solo show in Europe next month at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark (5 October 2023—18 February 2024), followed by a survey at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston in the Spring of 2024.

Joining the gallery in a different capacity is Carlo Knoell, who has been enlisted as a Senior Director.

Knoell is the founder of Galerie Knoell in Basel, Switzerland. From January next year, Hauser & Wirth will operate the space, which is located at Luftgässlein 4, an address in the Altstadt Grossbasel near Kunsthalle Basel and the Kunstmuseum.

‘The relationship between Hauser & Wirth and our gallery has grown steadily over recent years’, Knoell told The Art Newspaper. He said joining Hauser & Wirth was natural in light of the ‘passion for art’ and ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ he shared with the gallery’s president and co-founder Iwan Wirth.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp b. 1889, Switzerland Follow +

Hauser & Wirth welcomed the dealer’s fresh perspective and experience in the secondary market. Galerie Knoell has sold 20th century modern and contemporary art by the likes of Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Max Bill, and Georges Vantongerloo.

While suspending Galerie Knoell’s exhibition and art fair activities, Knoell will continue to independently manage his gallery’s holdings and estates—which include the estates of Méret Oppenheim and Verena Loewensberg—at a second space in Erasmus House, Bäumleingasse 18.

Hauser & Wirth’s new Basel gallery will add to a total of 17 locations worldwide, including new Paris and New York spaces opening in October.

While the gallery already operates six locations in Switzerland—across Zürich, Gstaad, and St Moritz—it will be Hauser & Wirth’s first permanent location in the city.

Until now, Gagosian was the only mega-gallery with a permanent presence in Basel. —[O]

Main image: Firelei Báez. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Amilcar Navarro.