Robert Baribeau (b.1949)
"Cherry Street"
acrylic and collage on canvas
66" x 50"
About the Artist
A third-generation Abstract Expressionist who’s added plenty of tricks to the original New York School bag, Baribeau has the expected drips and heavy impasto, but his palette is considerably – and irreverently – brighter than those of de Kooning et al.
Embedded in the paint are scraps of fabric, plastic sheeting, and wallpaper a la Rauschenberg’s “Combines.” Baribeau ventures into installation as well, clustering canvases and painted cigar boxes in willfully clashing formations. There are also a few singular flowers and glasses that rise up from their stems like periscopes, comparatively quiet and contemplative amid the heavily worked abstractions.
