Felipe Baeza

Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, Felipe Baeza currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. His work has been featured in New York’s The New School, the International Print Center, and Meyerson Hall Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the recipient of the Michael S. Vivo Prize for Drawing and Keyholder Resident at the Lower East Side Printshop.

The undocumented youth movement has taken inspiration from the LGBTQ rights movement in encouraging undocumented youth to come out. “We’re queer undocumented youth, we can no longer afford to be in the closet either as gay or undocumented,” Baeza said. “We can no longer hide. We have the right to express our sexuality; we have right to remain here.” I have the right to feel human because I have the right to feel free in the country I call my home.” Baeza’s sense that heterosexual identity is a prerequisite to the pursuit of US citizenship has led him to assert that there is an inherent allegiance between the goals of the movements for both LGBTQ and immigrant rights, and that both are part of a larger struggle for universal human rights.

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Artist website here.