When Every Lamplight Spent… 1994

Jo Baer made this oil on canvas piece, “When Every Lamplight Spent…” without assigning it a specific date. But with its dreamlike imagery and cultural references, it's a window into the artist's mind and the world around her. Baer, known for her association with minimalist abstraction, took a sharp turn away from it during the 1970s, embracing figuration and symbolism. Her work from this period engages with the politics of imagery and offers a critique of institutions, art included. Look at how she juxtaposes a globe, animals, architectural ruins, and cryptic texts. What do these visual codes and historical associations suggest to you? Baer lived in Ireland and then London during the time she made this shift in artistic direction. Perhaps these locations fueled her interest in history, mythology, and literature, which she weaves into this painting. To understand Baer’s art fully, you could research her biography, art criticism from the 1970s onward, and the cultural context of her life and work. Art is always contingent on its social and institutional context, which makes the role of the art historian so important.