November 20, 2019 – January 12, 2020
Artist’s Reception – December 11, 2019 | 5:30 – 7:30 pm
The Mennello Museum of American Art proudly presents, John Baker: Mind Wealth — the captivating photography of artist John Baker, whose work unveils a moment in time where light interacts gracefully among crowds or an individual within charming human-built spaces. Baker brilliantly captures the interplay of human interaction surrounded by highly contrasted shadow and bright light cast onto the smooth metals and the textured brick of city streets encountered during his travels.
The title of the exhibition is drawn from a photograph taken by the artist, which asks the viewer to confront philosophical ideas associated with idealism and youth or materiality and maturity in an art filled space that encourages the same attention to thought. Inspired by the ephemeral and profound moods evoked in Edward Steichen’s early photography, the soft-focused documentation of urban life by Alfred Stieglitz, the architectural abstraction of Paul Strand, and the high contrast drama commanded by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Baker’s photographs continue a long tradition of considering place and people through contemporary black and white photography.
“On the occasion of our major exhibition with pioneering photographer Edward Steichen, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share the photography of an outstanding local artist, John Baker, who has long admired the avant-garde work by photographers at the turn of the last century, and employs this creative exploration in his own work. Through his photography, Baker presents a wonderful consideration of the splendor of contemporary society with a modernist lens of location. Baker elegantly frames the world he sees, reminding us all to find the wonder in the lives we walk through every day.”
Katherine Navarro, Curator of Art and Education
John Baker is a recognized black and white film photographer and multimedia artist living and working in Orlando. He teaches photography at the Crealdé School of Art, holds a gallery studio at FAVO, is an annual Indie-Folkfest artist at the Mennello Museum and, among other accolades, has won Best of Show at the Orlando Museum of Art’s First Thursdays.
John Baker: Mind Wealth is curated by Katherine Navarro, Curator of Art and Education, Mennello Museum of American Art.