‘MISCHIEF MAKERS’
Joan Baez art exhibit celebrates more social activists
Acts of well-intentioned mischief are the focus of a new art exhibit by folk icon Joan Baez.
Baez, who is working to establish her visual art legacy, is celebrating influential nonviolent social justice activists, athletes, politicians, public health officials and environmentalists in “Mischief Makers 2,” a gallery of acrylic portraits on display from Wednesday through Feb. 14 in Mill Valley.
“I started painting for real about nine years ago,” Baez said. “I was investigating what I’d end up doing and I became very comfortable with portraits after the third year of painting. I kept thinking, I’ll move onto something else, but I never do.”
Building off her debut “Mischief Makers” exhibit in 2017, Baez painted portraits of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Vice President-elect Kamala
Harris, a young Bob Dylan, the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela and others.
“It was a no-brainer for me to paint people I admired, who I have met and who have made a difference in my life,” she said.
Baez’ portraits have garnered a lot of praise, said Seager Gray Gallery coowner Donna Seager, who met Baez years ago through her husband, IJ music writer Paul Liberatore. Seager introduced Baez to an artist who helped her develop her latest work.
“The portraits are always of people who make changes
“It was a no-brainer for me to paint people I admired, who I have met and who have made a difference in my life.”
— Joan Baez
in the world in nonviolent ways,” Seager said. “The first ‘Mischief Makers' show sold out, and all the paintings are at Sonoma State University's Diversity and Social Justice department. This new crop of mischief makers always follows John Lewis' advice to ‘make good trouble.'”
Organizers are planning an online celebration of Baez' 80th birthday on Jan. 9 with a tour of the gallery, an interview with Baez and a Zoom dance party. She said the event will be a celebration of her life and the lives of people she's painted. It will start at 5:30 p.m., and tickets cost $15.
“I am excited. I have managed to ignore my birthday pretty successfully, but I either admit I'm 80 or I am just kidding myself,”
she said.
“I will end the show with dancing. I'll be suggesting all watchers to put on their favorite music and get up and dance. That's another antidote,” she said, referring to the divisive American politics that inspired her to continue painting.
“I didn't take much of a break,” she said. “I thought maybe after the first one maybe things will ease up in the world and I could move onto something else. But things didn't ease up. It just got hideous.”
She said President Donald Trump has created a toxic culture by fanning the flames of racism, conspiracy theories, xenophobia and hate.
“Another surprise is that racism reared its head so ferociously, and White supremacy is now possibly, aside from climate change, the biggest threat to this nation because most people don't want to deal with
it,” she said.
She said she admires the Black Lives Matter movement, which shares similarities with the Civil Rights movement and the anti-war movement of the 1960s and '70s, in which she was leading figure through her music and activism.
“Black Lives Matter helped me point to my own racism. It's been a year of learning for me. Back in the '60s, that stuff was ingrained in a lot of us and it needs to be faced,” she said. “I am coming to terms with things I've said that may hurt someone and I was totally unaware. So it's like we are starting again at ground zero.”
Apart from racism, she said disinformation is another tactic that Trump uses to garner support. She said that is what inspired her to paint Fauci, even though he is technically not a social justice activist.
“Fauci is not heading a nonviolent revolution,” she said. “Maybe I said it when I sent that portrait of him with the word ‘Trust' on it. I said, ‘ You may not be aware of it, but it is a nonviolent resistance to stand in front of yokels and tell the truth.' He is speaking truth to power, taking a risk and paying the consequences. He was one my heroes this year.”
Baez gave up touring last year to focus on her artwork. She said she is fortunate to be good enough at painting to make an impact.
“Everything I've ever done in my life is a statement,” she said. “People are interested in this and give me a way of continuing things that are important to me. I'm a mischief maker from way back and this is just another way to remain present, but doing it in a way that is beautiful because these are ugly, ugly times.”