Home in Georgetown

Visit Addison/Ripley Fine Art on Friday, September 12th from 5:00 - 8:00 pm for the opening reception to celebrate Christopher Baer &  ART ALL NIGHT.

For his fourth show with Addison/Ripley, Christopher Baer has had time to reflect on his more than 30 years of painting. During a recent studio visit they chatted about the new work and more generally the state of the world. Baer’s internal struggle with his art can be seen as a mirror to what he witnesses throughout the DMV and our world: so many of us are searching for a place to call home, be it a location, a community or a place within ourselves.

This show’s title, “Home”, suggests an intimacy to Baer’s work and may refer, as well, to the fact that the artist’s studio is in his home in the DC Palisades. However, woven through the art is the literal and existential threat facing so many: a felt sense of detachment and a yearning to find our place in such complex times. So home in this sense may be a place of belonging and healing after feeling adrift and unseen for a long time. As he states: “That said, I dedicate this collection to the therapists, physicians, healers, and witnesses who help us find our way home when we’re lost.”

Many of the paintings in this collection, “Home”, bear the inscribed or intentionally revealed outlines of simple house structures. Others, like, “Home 03” 2025 suggest siding or architectural details. All have the distinctive Baer palette and layering. Utilizing both pentimento and heavy impasto, the marks add a delicate layer of shadow and depth. What is familiar about Baer’s work for this show is the directness of paint application, a la Richard Diebenkorn and Augustus Vincent Tack and the compelling strength of the artist’s composition.

In this collection, the artist has consciously chosen to keep his work smaller than usual, emphasizing the intimate nature of his theme and condensing his familiar exuberance into a smaller package. The artist reveals himself to be a keen and empathetic observer of the world, a world ablaze with monumental struggles. 

The gallery is located in Upper Georgetown on Book Hill at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Reservoir Road and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 until 4 and by appointment. For further information and images please contact gallery director, Ms. Romy Silverstein, at 202.338.5180 or info@addisonripleyfineart.com