Schlomer Haus Gallery is thrilled to present Passing Through The Soft Storm, the debut solo exhibition from abstract-figurative painter Adam Baker. This series of work is inspired by the notion of travel and the separation of self that comes with voyaging into the unknown. The paintings exist in a psychological space of quiet inquiry, a space where one can gain unique understanding into the truth of one’s own existence.
While the exhibition is rooted firmly in the artist’s personal experiences of travel, Baker is careful to provide space for open interpretation, inspiring reflection and in viewers. With versatile and interesting subjects, the work transcends genres, guiding people beyond the obvious into a deep curiosity about what is beyond the surface.
With keen attention to the emotions of color, form, and light, these paintings portray evocative characters suspended in a moment of self-reflection where they remain in the fragment of time between choices. The cigarette has been smoked, yet still burns in the ashtray. The open window marks conflicting thoughts between the anticipation of escape and reflection on past adventure. Each choice in these thoughtfully captured moments as well as its opposite have been made, leaving the figures in this point of ultimate tension; the consequences of choice haunt the paintings like unknowing omens.
Additionally, a continuous theme at the heart in Baker’s work is an earnest reflection of queer positioning. In a world not designed for queer people, a constant journey towards seeking belonging, meaning and connection is necessary and unavoidably influential. This theme of “otherness” is represented throughout these works by the presence of pigeons, a species living in a world not built for them. As much as they are overlooked, they are a beautiful constant in our lives, adapting and flourishing despite their environment. In these paintings, they are claimed as a symbol of a yearning for queer acceptance.
“My goal is to highlight the performative nature of life, the darkly comic realities of queer existence, and even to draw awareness ideas of masquerade and (non)conformity as a reality of how we cope, distract, and react to the human condition and our own fragile sense of self.”
With 15 pieces ranging in size and subject, Baker invites people to enter the unique psychological space that travel provides, conjuring a reminiscence about how different life feels when your usual friends and usual comforts are some distance away. The show opens on November 3rd and remains on view until December 23rd at Schlomer Haus Gallery.
