Award-winning artist Bill Baker has traveled to more than 50 different countries in search of the most remote areas of our planet. He enjoys getting to know the natives and, sometimes, lives among them. With their permission, he will photograph them and then bring them to life on his canvases. His latest series of paintings is Cliff Climbers of Mesa Verde, which will be on display at Acosta Strong Fine Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this December.
Ancient Cliff Climber, oil, 60 x 36"
“This summer I visited Mesa Verde,” Baker says. “While walking around the cliff dwellings, my imagination was parked by the thought of the natives’ way of life 1,000 years ago; especially how they would get to their dwellings by climbing the cliffs carrying such things as water, corn, small game, etc.”
Hunter Gatherer, oil, 48 x 36”
The Eagle Catcher, oil, 96 x 66”
Baker decided to embark on a series of six paintings depicting cliff climbers bringing these goods to their dwellings. “I contracted professional cliff climbers, dressed them in native garb and accessories such as baskets, bows and arrows and various tools, such as the stone axe, and photographed them,” he describes. “I tried to capture the anatomy, the expressions, the feel as I imagined what it would be like for these incredible humans that once lived in Mesa Verde.”
Cliff Climbers of Mesa Verde will run December 4 through 18, with an opening reception taking place December 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. —
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Represented by Acosta Strong Fine Art
540 Canyon Road | Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 453-1825 | www.acostastrong.com
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