Pleasant Journeys and Good Eats Along the Way at the TN State Museum
You've Got to Admit It's Getting Baeder
by Emily Bartlett Hines
click to enlarge
The official bio on John
Baeder's website compares his diner paintings to Renaissance depictions of
the Madonna and Child: Just as painters in earlier eras found near-infinite
variations in an apparently simple topic, Baeder's photorealist canvases
ring the changes on a familiar icon of Americana. His paintings are
painstakingly composed and minutely detailed, but the conceit works, because
his subject packs an emotional punch. His diners offer the traveler food and
comfort, but their very presence is a bit poignant: By the time Baeder
started painting in the 1970s, their '50s-futuristic design was becoming
obsolete. Check out his first major traveling exhibit at Thursday's opening.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Dec. 12. Continues through Feb. 15, 2008
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Dec. 12. Continues through Feb. 15, 2008
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