DEREK BARON

ARTIST BIO

Born in Kankakee, Illinois in 1967, Baron left his hometown at the age of seventeen and headed to California with about $100 in his pocket. He worked a variety of jobs until he could get into art school. He received his training at the Art Center, Pasadena, CA in 1997 and Laguna College of Art and Design in 1998 and has been a practicing artist since. His work has been featured in both group and solo exhibitions since 1997. The artist now lives near Dallas, TX with his wife, Tania.

Baron’s paintings incorporate elements of surrealism, making, text, collage, pop imagery, all drawn from his own thoughts and experiences. His palette, while relatively simple, is rich in layered depth and saturation, while seemingly innocuous collaged or drawn objects.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I love the challenge of physically translating a thought or feeling onto canvas. M main body of work explores childhood memories or everyday objects. My work has a child-like simplicity with payers of complexities. Many images, writings, and memories buried in layers of paint. Some of these show through while others are covered up forever.

I aim to create a balance between color and form, usually only with three elements. I start out by making random marks and scribbles on the canvas to activate it. By pushing and pulling paint and imagery, I’ll often attach a memory to it somewhere in the process.

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