Human Interest: Portraits by Jack Baron
This exhibition of luminescent needlepoint tapestries and acrylic paintings represents a 20-year commitment by Jack Baron, Key West’s beloved folk artist. His subject matter was inspired by his Key West friends, neighbors, conch houses, roosters, and cats. Each artwork is presented in his uniquely whimsical and effervescent style.
A native of Rockaway Beach in New York, Baron moved to Key West in 1977 accompanied by his lifelong partner Robert Burton. After Burton gave him a set of acrylic paints as a birthday gift, Baron began painting portraits of the people he saw waiting at the bus stop. “At that time they were mostly black folk who lived in the Truman/Windsor Lane neighborhood,” he recalled in an interview. Much of his work portrayed the diverse culture of Key West’s Bahama Village.
Baron produced an amazing number of finely crafted paintings. Each one embodied his lighthearted, deceptively simple style marked by bright colors and his own brand of pointillism. His famous tapestries were the natural union of his love of needlework and painting. Originally, he worked with small cushion designs until a friend suggested he make a needlepoint of one of his paintings. Soon he was recreating his favorite paintings in needlework, covering the walls of the home Baron and Burton shared.
In 2001 all the tapestries were exhibited for the first time at the Custom House. Over 500 guests came to the opening night reception to enjoy these magnificent works, which had only been displayed on the walls of Jack and Bob’s home. “The house looks bare,” said Baron, but admitted he was thrilled to be able to share them with so many museum visitors.
