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| Pleasant Journeys and Good Eats Along the Way |
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Friday, July 11 - Sunday, October 26, 2008 Appleby Foundation Gallery
Pleasant Journeys and Good Eats Along the Way: A Retrospective of Paintings by John Baeder surveys John Baeder’s (1938-) 35-year obsession with roadside architecture, especially America’s diners. Originally attracted to classic postcard images of Mom and Pop restaurants, Baeder spent most of his career depicting these beloved unpretentious restaurants. He has said he sees these paintings as pleas for preservation and diners are part of the American landscape that fit into an urban context like modern folk heroes.
Before the era of fast food,
American travelers looked to diners to provide “meals like mother makes,” a descriptive
phrase found in Baeder’s very first diner painting. Home cooking was especially
appealing to weary tourists who took to the American highway in increasing
numbers between the 1920s and the 1960s.
After becoming the director of a
large advertising agency, Baeder began collecting American postcards from the
1920s to the 1940s. Upon realizing his attraction had to do with the angles and
composition of the photographs, he spent hours studying the postcards and later
decided to paint images based on those postcards.
In 1972, Baeder began making black
and white paintings and became increasingly entranced with details. He painted
his first color painting in 1974 and has continued to create brilliant images
of diners ever since. This exhibition is organized by the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA. Image credit:
John Baeder
Opening reception
John Cobb Piano Performance
ARTmob Movies @ the Rhino: Pulp Fiction
Film screening, Sandwiches That You Will Like
Film screening, Diner
How to Doo Wop with Richard Stokes, Stokes Architecture |
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