RICHARD BAKER
2025
July 1 - 31, 2025
“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.”
–Isaac Asimov
Although this exhibition was not assembled with the theme of
“banned books” in mind, after thinking about the titles it occurred to me
that in fact, at least eight of the books have been banned at one time or
another. It is the truths found between their covers that frightens and
challenges the powers that be. Of the other books, one deals with lessons
from tyrants and dictators throughout history, another served as the
inspiration for the great Stanley Kubrick film Doctor Strangelove, and,
gratefully, the third gives us relief with famous insults from history and
literature. In this current climate of repression and manipulation of the
facts, we seek the hard truths found in these books. Books are being
banned across this country. Names of places are being changed at whim.
Science is useful only to those in power. History is being rewritten. Such
is the real state of our country. Resistance is strong, but time is running out.
The following words were written by George Orwell in his 1949
masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four:
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten,
every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has
been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing
day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists
except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
Even as we anguish over the resonance that those words have for our
own time, we are aware that along with the profound writing, we also have
the incredibly beautiful covers that contain these important words. They
serve as a visual link to the contents inside, and also as a stimulus for us
to reconnect with that content time and time again with just a look.
Richard’s ongoing fascination with, and honoring of these artists’ work
continues with this poignant and timely group of paintings.
–Isaac Asimov
Although this exhibition was not assembled with the theme of
“banned books” in mind, after thinking about the titles it occurred to me
that in fact, at least eight of the books have been banned at one time or
another. It is the truths found between their covers that frightens and
challenges the powers that be. Of the other books, one deals with lessons
from tyrants and dictators throughout history, another served as the
inspiration for the great Stanley Kubrick film Doctor Strangelove, and,
gratefully, the third gives us relief with famous insults from history and
literature. In this current climate of repression and manipulation of the
facts, we seek the hard truths found in these books. Books are being
banned across this country. Names of places are being changed at whim.
Science is useful only to those in power. History is being rewritten. Such
is the real state of our country. Resistance is strong, but time is running out.
The following words were written by George Orwell in his 1949
masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four:
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten,
every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has
been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing
day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists
except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
Even as we anguish over the resonance that those words have for our
own time, we are aware that along with the profound writing, we also have
the incredibly beautiful covers that contain these important words. They
serve as a visual link to the contents inside, and also as a stimulus for us
to reconnect with that content time and time again with just a look.
Richard’s ongoing fascination with, and honoring of these artists’ work
continues with this poignant and timely group of paintings.
From the archives:
We are extremely happy to present the 28th solo exhibition of Richard Baker with our gallery. Our personal relationship precedes even our professional one, which began in 1992. Through the years Richard has exhibited oil paintings, sculpture, installations and more, but the core body of work that he has become identified with has been his loving depictions of favorite books.
Richard uses the medium of gouache to paint these exquisite homages. Gouache can be particularly tricky paint to master, but Richard has made it into an almost second-nature intuitive tool with which he honors these jewels of design. It is quite extraordinary to see the way in which he handles the medium almost like oil paint, making it viscous and tactile.
Richard Baker's work is in countless public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum, Sarasota Springs, NY, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Awards include those from the New England Foundation for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. He has been a visiting artist at the University of Iowa, Boston University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of Visual Art in New York, and the Vermont Studio Center, and others. He has long standing involvements with the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and Castle Hill Center for the Arts in Truro, MA where he has conducted workshops. Baker taught for eleven years at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He currently resides with his wife Victoria in Cambridge, MA.
Richard uses the medium of gouache to paint these exquisite homages. Gouache can be particularly tricky paint to master, but Richard has made it into an almost second-nature intuitive tool with which he honors these jewels of design. It is quite extraordinary to see the way in which he handles the medium almost like oil paint, making it viscous and tactile.
Richard Baker's work is in countless public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum, Sarasota Springs, NY, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Awards include those from the New England Foundation for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. He has been a visiting artist at the University of Iowa, Boston University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of Visual Art in New York, and the Vermont Studio Center, and others. He has long standing involvements with the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and Castle Hill Center for the Arts in Truro, MA where he has conducted workshops. Baker taught for eleven years at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He currently resides with his wife Victoria in Cambridge, MA.