Baker painted cityscapes, landscapes,
figurative works and flower pieces. A popular "Voice" he dramatises
in a highly subjective manner the daily discourse of life in the Cape
Flats, District Six and the Bo-Kaap. Kenneth Baker's paintings speak to
us. The emotive and somewhat primitive simplification of the figurative
work recalls the paintings of the german expressionists so do his sombre
tones off set by luminous colour. No attempt is made to embellish his
subject - he tells it as it is. Lacking the opportunities of an extensive
formal education Kenneth Baker speaks to us through his paintwork, by
dramatizing in his own highly subjective manner that daily course of events.
In this rich, interactive theatre the painted characters will occasionally
refer to the viewer, seeking his opinion with a glance, revealing a covert
transaction. There is also a certain degree of automatic painting in the
background - figures appear behind flower pieces and on the walls of the
room in interior scenes.
Baker's landscapes are, in some instances, rooted in the same milieu
as those of Pranas Domisaitis. Domisaitis was attracted, as he was, to
the highly subjective styles then flourishing in European painting. Influenced
by peasant cultures, sombre tones, intense luminosity and heavily drawn
borders - light radiates from within the scene, often intensely concentrated
in the moon.
Gregoire Bonzaier was also a mentor, willing to share his knowledge of
impressionist colour mixes.
Born in 1921, Harfield Road, Claremont Kenneth Baker was a self taught
artist encouraged by his father who was a house painter. Baker worked
as a sign writer in the Cape Town Docks before launching himself as a
professional artist. Today his paintings of fisherman and dockyard scenes
feature prominently in many cape collections.
Shebeen Theme. Direct quotation from the artist:
"Cape Town is littered with shebeens. I like to
go there and sketch and have a drink. I wish I were a writer. There are
so many stories I could tell - just in my raw way. I like going there
most in summer when the sun is fading and filters through the spaces in
between the fence and catches the profile of the chaps and their girlfriends,
sitting in the corner or maybe in a broken down car in the yard. Sometimes
we all join in a "Cazat" - a communal meal. Often, on Fridays,
mothers and children come and fetch their men who have gone straight from
work "to square with the shebeen" before going home with the
rest of the money for the weekly housekeeping.
The people there are a mixed bunch; some white; some
hippies, some nice girls; some lost and others saying " Moenie my
vrou se nie". Many sit about four or five hours until check out time.
Sunday is usually a busy day. Sometimes they serve wine that is hard to
get down but I have learnt to drink all types now."
A social realist and popular "voice" he tells us of vibrant
life in the cape coloured community.
It was through lack of opportunity that he only had three years of formal
schooling but he struggled and succeeded.
As an associate of the Vakalisa Group he exhibited at the Rodin Gallery
in Long Street, Cape Town. He also exhibited at Gallery 709; The Oasis
Gallery; The Association of Arts in Belleville. In all he had thirteen
one-man exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.
When the District Six Foundation convened an exhibition in The Forum
Gallery in Cavendish Square, Kenneth Baker, then an octogenarian, relived
in his paintings the gaiety and joy of life experienced in District Six
before it was destroyed. He died in November 1996 from the ravages of
a stroke.
One of Bakers friends is Ocean View artist Peter Clarke.
"We struggled together but we had some good times
together - going to exhibitions - we used to take it in turns to bring
along a cake and then we would just spend the afternoon talking about
art and music."
Kenneth Baker says:
" I used to work in Cape Town Dockyard and do
sketches, sometimes of people sleeping on the job - that used to frighten
them and they used to say "Don't show the Boss."
Mr. Baker has four children. The youngest is the only one keen in dabbling
with the paintbrush.
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