By Joseph Baraz
Sponsored by Holter Museum of Art
- 15 acrylic, oil, and tar paintings on aluminum
- Sizes: 14″ x 17″ – 21.5″ x 25.5″
- Crates: 1 – 2, 36″ x 36″ x 44″ approx
- Available: January 2027 – July 31, 2028
- Booking Fee: 4 – 6 weeks $600/ 7 – 12 weeks $800
- Integrative Resources: Artist will travel for artist talks, lectures and workshops
EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION
Joseph Baráz is a Hungarian-born, Helena, Montana-based artist. Born in 1952 in the Baroque city of Eger, Hungary, he first encountered visual art at the gallery of the Istvan Dobo Castle Museum, where he saw 15th- through 19th-century works by French, Italian, German, Austrian, and Hungarian Masters. Later in his youth, he moved to Budapest to attend the school for acrobats and worked for a family circus for several years. In 1972, he and his wife, Agnes, crossed the border into West Germany, determined to start fresh there. In 1976, they settled in San Francisco. Resolute to make art without restrictions from either the market or the state, Baráz worked as a builder and developed his craft as both a carpenter and a stonemason. From there, he came to appreciate working-class found materials and focused on stone sculpture, seeking to unlock the divine within the rough surface. He also became entranced by the stele and often treated 1’ x 1’ marble and limestone ovals as ordinary surfaces, covering them with acrylic paint or using their flaws to make clever jokes between his work and his audience. His goal with these materials, however, was to create a talisman, something to enrich the soul and demonstrate a mystic presence, while using the humble tools and materials of a craftsman to achieve such an effect.
Now, in a new phase of his life, Baráz has shifted his focus from lead, wood, and stone to tar, oil, and aluminum. His abstract landscape paintings, much like lyric-less songs, invite interpretation through the emotions invoked by color, composition, and texture alone. His work is bold and geometric, dividing the surface with sharp diagonals or, sometimes, softer, more romantic swirls of color and contrast. Each piece features his characteristic intuitive, highly visible brushstrokes, aiming to capture the spirit of a specific place at a particular moment with conviction and without literal depiction.
There are 15 works included in this exhibition. Each will be matted and framed. The artist is willing to travel for lectures and artist talks and is sure to win over any crowd with his charming Hungarian accent. Baráz is witty, charismatic, and intelligent, with a deep love of art that emanates from every conversation you have with him.
MAGDA 