Paris End by Stephen Baker
Stephen Baker draws on high fashion and the beauty behind the sometimes toxic images of capitalist opulence and escapist retail fantasy for his latest body of work, Paris End, at Backwoods Gallery.
Words: Hande Renshaw | Photography: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
‘I became interested in the “sell” of the lifestyle these images portrayed, and how they presented this as aspirational with the intention to make us want these products and the suggested lifestyle that comes with them,’ says Stephen Baker. Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
Model with Bag 2 by Stephen Baker. Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
Melbourne-based Stephen Baker has always had a strong connection to art and creating.
‘From an early age I was teaching myself to draw, I had this 'how to draw dinosaurs' book that taught me the basics and from then on I haven't really stopped,’ says Stephen.
Fast forward to his teenage years, Stephen began his studies focused on graphic design at university but the pull for a career as an artist proved too strong. ‘I was always doing artwork on the side for either friend band's or my own – I decided to put some work in local group shows and over a decade later here I am.’
Stephen is best-known for his dynamic and joyfully coloured scenes that are an invitation to escape reality, delving in a fictitious world of humorous and sentimental contemplation of the human experience and the world around us.
For his upcoming solo show, Paris End, at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne, Stephen explores the world of high fashion investigating the capitalist perception of opulence as a cultural and societal signifier.
Some of the original references for the show were captured on Stephen’s phone, taken of boutique fashion shop front windows at the 'Paris End' of Collins St in Melbourne's CBD.
Mother with Child by Stephen Baker. Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
Cultured - Zola by Stephen Baker. Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
“I wanted to bring out the somewhat ridiculousness of these repetitive scenes to illustrate their ‘fake-ness’ and disconnection from reality.”
‘I work mostly from sketches and ideas that are compiled in many Moleskines around the studio. It's from these pages I begin to develop a larger body of work,’ says Stephen Baker of his process. Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
Stephen went on to find a use and connection to these images amoungst the Vogue magazines his partner had started to collect some fifteen years ago. For Stephen, the magazines were another vehicle that displayed the ‘somewhat fantastical lifestyle of the fashionable elite’.
‘Flicking through the pages I was able to find many references that built on this 'escapist' idealised world I believe these magazines possess,’ he says.
The visually dynamic paintings are painted in tones of citrus, with a palette consisting predominately of yellows, oranges and browns.
‘Initially I wanted to make a different impact for this show in terms of colour use, I wanted a tighter palette that didn't span across multiple hues. The yellows and oranges came about from the hues commonly found in perfumes, of which I was studying when putting this show together,’ says Stephen.
Paris End is Stephen’s largest show to date, ‘I am pretty hyped for this latest show, it'll be the largest collection I've shown, the biggest space I've shown in and also taken the longest to prepare.’
Paris End opens at Backwoods Gallery this Friday 11th March until Sunday 27th March.
Erica Packer and Family by Stephen Baker. Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
Photo: Backwoods Gallery & Stephen Baker
