“Kristin Baker: New Paintings”

"Kristin Baker: New Paintings," recently opened at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston. It is the first in an exhibition series featuring graduates of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA). From Oct. 2, 2010 to March 27, 2011, visitors are invited to view Baker's four large- scale paintings in the Community Arts and SMFA Gallery in the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art. "Kristin Baker: New Paintings," is sponsored by the Museum Council Artist in Residency Program Fund and is Baker's first solo exhibition in America.

Baker, born in 1975 in Stamford, Connecticut, created her four paintings, titled "Full Dawn Parallax," "Matter Facture," "Rime Affinity" and "Within Refraction," in 2010 with the architectural aspects of the gallery in mind. The Community Arts and SMFA Gallery, designed by architect I. M. Pei in 1981, features strong, clean lines and curves, as well as

natural and artificial light. "Full Dawn Parallax," made with acrylic on acrylic with a powder-coated aluminum frame, most obviously incorporates the surrounding architectural space. Its curved lines echo the curved edges of the ceiling overhead and simultaneously bridge the distance between ceiling and floor. The extended aluminum frame highlights the play of light and shadow on the painting, an idea incorporated in the other paintings as well. Additionally, "Full Dawn Parallax" intrigues the viewer by pulling the color scheme of "Within Refraction" into the right side of the painting, suggesting the fluidity between her pieces in the gallery.

Baker's three other paintings use similar techniques to control the surrounding space and command attention. Visitors stop and view each painting individually, as a set, and as part of the gallery. Baker's strong and distinctive style unites all the paintings with her bold, clean strokes of paint, geometric shapes, harmonized color scheme and critical inclusion of her canvases' white or clear background. In "Within Refraction," Baker uses acrylic and charcoal on PVC to depict an engaging sense of translucency, light, and shadow. "Within Refraction" has a dark, almost haunting palette of grays and luminescent greens and yellows. Once again, Baker creatively maximizes her use of the white canvas in her work.

In "Matter Facture," also made of acrylic and charcoal on PVC, Baker experiments with many different textures, such as glossy, matte and transparent, to provide added depth to the painting. Baker's deep blues and blacks in "Matter Facture" arrest the viewer's eye with layers of color and shading.

Baker's ability to combine colors in surprising and pleasing ways is also apparent in "Rime Affinity," which focuses primarily on brighter pastels. The four paintings are complex in terms of composition and titles, but accessible in terms of the simplicity and cleanliness of lines and color.

Although the paintings suit the gallery they inhabit, the Community Arts and SMFA Gallery's location occasionally detracts from the viewing experience. Traffic and noise constantly flow in and out of the gallery, located next to an escalator, the Remis Box Office and Auditorium, the Galleria, the Bookstore and Shop, bathrooms and phones. Although such movements reflect the dynamic movement within Baker's artwork, the traffic and noise in open gallery space distracts the viewer from the paintings.

rather compact, so visitors should go to the MFA with other exhibits in mind, such as the Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 exhibit, which is located on the same floor in the nearby Foster Gallery and is open from Aug. 11, 2010 to Jan. 17, 2010. Wellesley students may show student identification to access the MFA for free.

Nevertheless, Baker's distinctive style engages and captivates the visitors passing through the gallery. Her exhibit is

"Kristin Baker: New Paintings" continues through March 27 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston; (617) 267 - 9300, icaboston.org. Admission is free with Wellesley ID.