Beverly Baker
When Beverly Baker sits at her worktable, the ritual is always the same: on the blank piece of paper, with a ballpoint pen, the artist begins to trace letters on which she will draw until the meaning is annihilated. Her work is reminiscent of that of Twombly, Serra or Tapiès. A member of the « Latitute Artist » workshop (Kentucky), Beverly Baker has been presented twice at the Maison rouge (Paris) in these exhibitions: Le Mur, artworks from the Antoine de Galbert collection and art brut, abcd/Bruno Decharme collection and won the Wynn Newhouse Award in 2017.
Beverly Baker’s drawings are created through the obsessive layering of text found in a small selection of books and magazines that she uses as reference material. The final abstract compositions generally contain only trace hints (indices indications) of their genesis in language as Baker draws continuously on the same sheet, obliterating her original words or letters with additional words, lines and color. Most of her drawings are created with ballpoint pens, colored pencils and permanent marker.
Baker, who has Down Syndrome, is a member of the Latitude Artist Community in Lexington, Kentucky, a program with the stated mission of serving all people, with an emphasis on those thought by some to have a disability. Unlike most “studio programs” for artists with disabilities, Latitude creates meaningful, inclusive community interactions and allows participating artists to contribute culturally and politically to the life of their community. Baker has been an integral member of Latitude since its founding in 2001.
Beverly Baker has been shown twice in 2014 at the Maison rouge in the group shows Le Mur, works from Antoine de Galbert’s collection and art brut, collection abcd/bruno decharme.
Preface : Philippe Godin
Foreword : Christian Berst
Catalog published to mark the exhibition Beverly Baker : palimpseste, from february 3rd to 28th 2015.
