Wildlife on the Edge: Hilary Baker

The Wildling Museum of Art and Nature is pleased to announce its upcoming 2022 fall exhibition, Wildlife on the Edge: Hilary Baker, on view from October 8, 2022 – March 6, 2023. The public is invited to attend an opening reception on Sunday, October 9 from 3 – 5 p.m. at the Wildling Museum.

Wildlife on the Edge features new and recent acrylic paintings from Hilary Baker’s Predators series alongside a new series of animal portraits on birch wood. From a group of common pigeons to an elusive cougar, Baker’s subjects make themselves at home in urban locales inspired by Los Angeles landmarks past and present.

Coupled with Baker’s alternatingly bright and moody color palette, viewers are provided a fanciful peek into the secret lives of their wild neighbors, often hidden in plain view.

“I consider my Predators portraits and present them straightforwardly,” says Baker. “Their gaze is oblique, their confrontation with the viewer unflinching and their presence – like the past – uncompromising. It might be argued that these mostly nocturnal creatures serve as stand-ins for any city resident attempting to co-exist with a disappearing homeland.”

The exhibition will also include video and photography highlighting native wildlife in the urban landscape, providing local context for creatures who make the Central Coast home, and exploring California wildlife crossings such as the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing currently underway at Liberty Canyon. A resource table will also offer visitors a chance for reflection with recent news on efforts to improve wildlife habitats and how the public can better coexist with animals in an increasingly modern landscape.

Questions? Contact info@wildlingmuseum.org or call (805) 686-8315.

Grateful thanks to exhibition sponsors Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and donors to the Patti Jacquemain Exhibition Fund.