THE PAINTER

by David Gargiulo

Kevin Baker is a rising star in the field of the arts. Originally from Central City, Kentucky, in 2004 he moved to New York City to follow his dreams and his career has been a success ever since. His style is romantic with a transcendent beauty inspired by floral patterns and decoration. A peculiarity about his style is that he uses floral oilcloths as canvas and layers up drawings and paintings of flower compositions by embellishing and morphing the original design of the oilcloth. The final result is a beautiful and harmonic painting full of colors and movement that arouse a dreamy feeling of happiness in the viewer. The New York art scene has accepted and extolled his work. His work was featured in various exhibition such as the prestigious Baldwin Gallery in Aspen, CO, and the Rush Arts Gallery in Chelsea, NY. Vestal sat down with him and asked some questions. This is what we found out.

Photo: Kevin Sinclair

D.G. Hi Kevin. It is a pleasure to meet you and thank you for taking your time for this interview. K.B. Hi David. It is my pleasure. I'm glad to be here. D.G. To start off; Tell me a little bit about yourself. K.B. My name is Kevin Baker and I'm an artist living and working in New York City. I am definitely a country boy though! I grew up in Kentucky where I thrived with an obsession for wildflower gardening, playing the violin and making art. I've always felt a need to surround myself with natural elements and beautiful objects. My heritage is Native American (Cherokee) and German and I feel every bit of it. My paintings tell the story of who I am but also the condition of our Earth and it's magical moments. My work looks to the bright side of things in that no matter all the chaos in the world life continues. Man will walk, fish will swim and birds will fly. D.G. Very nice! I totally feel that sentiment of optimism in your work. Tell us more about your work. K.B. I paint on a patterned oilcloth that is normally used as tablecloth. Oilcloth is a material that many are familiar with because it is used frequently in casual restaurants around the world. It is a material that unites us but also symbolizes what we have done to the world through mass-production. I made it my duty to bring this plastic material back to nature. My grandmother used oilcloth on her dining room table where we would play dice and card games. She would sometimes burn

holes in it with her cigarettes. I found it in a shop one day back in 2002 and it immediately created a flood of memories of my childhood. I just knew I had to make something out of it! I paint on the surface in a very organic and automatic way. I paint many layers on the surface covering parts of the existing patterns and leaving some to be seen in the end. I respond to marks that I made and embellish these marks as I start to see images appear. Usually the pattern I start with is a floral motif. In the past, I have recreated the kitschy floral patterns into organic spaces full of harmony and beauty. They were like flowers flowing downstream calmly or swiftly. Lately, I have been adding motifs that have been on my mind with all the chaos and destruction that is happening in the world.

I have always envisioned my paintings to be flowers existing under water as if the world had been submerged. With all the natural disasters and tsunamis these days I see flowers and water combining through the news and it's not a pretty sight when it physically happens. Also since the gulf oil spill, I see the world becoming really dirty. I think that all our hands are dirty in some way, so we should all do our part to protect the environment. I was seriously effected by the oil spill. I suddenly started using black in my work. Now my paintings show the beauty of life's struggles and the beginning of new life but i am still serving up some peace and some love with a side of hope. D.G. We have all been affected and disheartened about the catastrophes in Japan and the tragedy of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The world looks like a pretty messed up place lately but we have to remain hopeful that things will get better soon and your beautiful work reminds us that. When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist in life? K.B. I don't know if I ever had a realization, rather it was just a natural evolution. My family was centered around photography, stained glass art, gardening, woodworking, and painting. At the age of 18, I decided to go to school for art. Once I started classes I just couldn't stop. I never felt my brain work in such a complex manner, even though I had already played classical violin for 12 years.

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In 2004, I received my Masters in Fine Art for painting and drawing from Miami University of Ohio. At that point, all I wanted to do was continue the art making process and I knew if I was ever going to become the artist I knew I was I would have to move to New York City. So here I am! I am so happy I did! D.G. Well. NY is one of the capitals of fashion and we are a fashion magazine. Has a fashion collection or piece ever inspired a painting? K.B. Yes, in very vague ways. Though, I'd like to think that my paintings inspire fashion. D.G. (Laugh) And it may be you never know. How will you describe your style? K.B. Country hippy grunge chic! I love mixing high and low fashion pieces and I'm loving bracelets lately. D.G. Is there a famous artist that influenced you? K.B. Yes, very much so. I love Donald Baechler. I met him 5 years ago. We are very close. He saved my life by believing in me. When I moved to New York City I found myself working in a restaurant trying to make ends meet. I was making small works in my apartment and I felt like my art career was never going to take off. I met Donald

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one night through a mutual friend and we all went to a gallery opening together. I didn't realize who he was until we went back to his studio and I saw all of his work. My jaw dropped and I was like, "You're my favorite artist!" I love his work so much. It makes me smile. It makes me happy. Over time we got to know one another. He had seen some of my art pieces and was excited to see what I could make next. One day he took me to an apartment building randomly. We walked into this space that turned out to be his first studio space back in the 80's. He told me to not work as much at the restaurant and just make art in this space. He wanted to see what would happen. I used this space and created a body of work which landed me a show at Baldwin Gallery in Aspen, Co.. The opening to that show felt like I was being reborn. I was so happy the work was so well loved. The rest is history... D.G. That's a great story and I am very happy that this opportunity opened up for you. You really deserve it! How would you define your approach to paint in a few words? K.B. Intuition and the ability to let my mind go on a beautiful and natural tangent. D.G. Where can readers find more about you and your work? K.B. I am online at www.kevinbakerartist.com Go to Kevin Bakers Vestal's Gallery to view more of his work.

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