Brent Holland Baker

Plummer’s Island

Maurice, Baltimore

Saturday, May 28th, 2022

Photography by Michele Lohr

“But kind of different too, where, I almost look for an image, when other performance artists are involved in an action.”-Brent Holland Baker

Plummer’s Island (2022) is a one-night performance by artist, Brent Holland Baker, a Washington D.C.-based, interdisciplinary artist.
It is the artist’s second major performance, and is his first exhibition in Baltimore since 2016.

Maurice is proud to present the artist in miraculous transformation; Baker covers himself in over 60 lbs of topsoil, grasping a glass of milk. While a naked arm and legs emerge motionless, one is left with the impression of discovering a corpse in a landfill. The tableau also calls to mind Marcel Duchamp’s last great artwork, Étant donnés (Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas, French: Étant donnés: 1° la chute d'eau / 2° le gaz d'éclairage)(1946-1966), not only in the flesh of the central forms, but also in the assumed anonymity in the work’s main subject. Duchamp spent the last twenty years of his life working on the masterwork in secret. Baker’s occasional flagellation through self-exile parallels not only Duchamp, but also Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (1611-1613) by Cecco del Caravaggio. A member of the third-century Roman emperor’s praetorian guard, Sebastian was secretly a Christian. When this was discovered, he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows. “It’s like this suffering, and I’m going to keep suffering to keep staying down there to keep you here.” Baker said. He continues to discuss the significance of suffering, personal losses experienced over the span of the last five years, and how he will often find ways to destroy himself for the purpose of personal growth and evolution.

 “I’m trying to wipe away any trickery, or anything that’s confusing. I try to get down to the bare bones. But to me, the true interest, is what people think of that; what conclusion do they come to? Even with the little glass of milk-I know what that stands for, for me, personally. But, how I try to make art is I try to give one thing that has a million different meanings.” Baker continued.

Plummer’s Island was a one-night performance, never to be recreated in the same iteration ever again. The following images offer a futile attempt to capture a glimpse into the spirit of Brent Holland Baker, as he transformed himself into a living sculpture.

The exhibition was an exorcism, a baptism, and a séance.

This house is clear.

Download the interview with Brent Holland Baker HERE