8:15am Friday 13th November 2009
By Jim Greenhalf
On the first morning of Darren Baker’s selected retrospective exhibition, a man stood in front of a seascape.
“It looks so much like a photograph, it almost defeats its own purpose,” he said. He had a point.
You could come out of this show thinking one of two things: either Darren is the most amazingly gifted painter you’ve ever seen, or he’s the most amazingly talented illustrator.
Technically, there is no argument. He has Rene Magritte’s eye for detail and the passion of the 17th century Dutch masters he so admires for precision.
And he can render models, dancers and athletes, from any angle, with the skill of Edgar Degas.
But does Darren the artist, within the scope of his subject matter, have anything to say?
Of all the paintings on show, his pictures of a dancer, and a motorcycle racer stand out for their boldness of approach, but a touch of the unexpected, the unpredictable, would make a change.
Darren Baker: Classical Realist Painter is on at the Yorkshire Craft Centre, Carlton Street, until December 11. The gallery is open Monday to Friday, 10.30am to 4pm.
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