Raelis Vasquez: in conversation with Folasade Ologundudu

Everything Is Connected

On this episode I'm joined by Raelis Vasquez. A native of the Dominican Republic, Vasquez moved to the United States in 2002 when he was seven. He graduated with his BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from Columbia University in 2021. It was around this time that I was first introduced to his work and I was immediately drawn to his figures. Vasquez draws on historical, political and personal narratives through depictions of daily life. His painterly compositions evoke the complexities of Afro-Latinx experiences. Through attentiveness to the people and places he portrays and through his gestural brushwork, contrasts of warm and cool hues, and the use of texture, the figures in Raelis Vasquez' work often appear to simultaneously inhabit a space of ease and vulnerability, encouraging viewers to consider their own positions on class, race and geography. He's on the eve of opening his first solo show with PM/ AM Gallery in London and his first solo in over two years when we sit down to talk about his work and practice.