Mulata in Repose

Abstract

This chapter provides a close reading and critical analysis of work by two New York City-based Afro-Dominican artists, Joiri Minaya (1990) and Josefina Báez (1960). The author argues that Báez' “Carmen FotonovelARTE” (2020) and Minaya's “Containers” series (2015–2020) play with the trope of repose and mixed-race beauty to chart pathways of Afro-Latina representation that are shaped by yet that radically challenge the colonial script of the mulata. The artists create a space of refusal that transforms repose into a powerful site from which to articulate, problematize, and dismantle oppressive, reductive systems of representation.

Citation

Báez, J. (2024), "Mulata in Repose", Hernández-Medina, E. and Maíllo-Pozo, S. (Ed.) Embodiment and Representations of Beauty (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 35), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 197-214. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-212620240000035022