Artist's Statement

The imagery of Ho's sculpture has its roots in the ancients, like the Hindu and the Mayan. Representational and figurative, the work is a product of extensive travel, a thousand ink drawings, free expression, immense deliberation, imaginative clay play and labor.

Ho's images are primitive, naive or brut, yet primal, they are fluid and sophisticated. The sculptures are excessive and complex, tribal and surreal, cosmic and baroque. They are intuitive translations of a fluid-like imagery, an impulsive mental flow that unfolds in an arduous sculptural process and evolves from a lump of clay into a humanoid of bronze, cast stone and sometimes resin. In idea and execution, the work rivals the greatest surreal interpretations of the human form, condition and psyche. It lends itself to scenario, beyond monsters or gargoyles, to other beings, and the images are odd, timeless and seem to come from all the world.

Intricate, tactile and visually intriguing, Ho's work presents a bold look into the aspects of humankind, the obvious and the hidden, the haunting and the humorous. Each image is a continuous play on our physical and emotional features. Though the works are titled, the names are but labels, and their interpretations are limitless. Ho's sculptures are fun and funny, and they are a satiric visual representation of the Ho view. They are anthropomorphic creatures and grotesque fantastic icons. Ho’s sculpture is but a peak into the spectacular Ho world, a world of more than 200 sculptures.

Artist's Bio

Chicago born, 1941, El Paso bred, Ho was raised on the Mexican border with a literary education. After graduate school in Tucson, during the Vietnam era, he taught English in the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Ethiopia. This was followed by years of mobility, both in location and work, and years of growth in his artistic endeavors.

After Africa, Ho lived in New York City, Philadelphia, Austin, the Virgin Islands, Belgium and elsewhere, then he returned to El Paso. He traveled all the continents, taught school, worked in libraries, public relations, social work, radio, retail, restaurants and labor. He has grown in his personal expression from writing into the visuals arts, photography, pen and ink drawing, and painting, to eventually arrive for more than twenty years at the challenges of three dimensional art, sculpture.

Ho’s approach to living and expression is intuitive, to allow the inner person to grow spontaneously, fed by the self, the tools and the environment, producing an intuitive person and intuitive expression in art. Ho’s theme is of the human form because it’s the most universal of forms, and he fantasizes and abstracts it with the surreal imagery and motifs he‘s developed. This intuitively driven conscious-unconscious endeavor has been his experiment in living and his experiment in artistic creation.

Artist's Resume

2007-2008 "Sculpture on Main," public art installation. Marble Falls, TX.
2007 “Border Massive,” invitational show. Gallery Under the Sun, El Paso, TX.
2007 “Artist on Art,” work exhibited.  El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX.
2007 “Sculptor’s Dominion Invitational.”  San Antonio, TX.
2006 “A Novel Romance” on permanent exhibition, El Paso Public Library.  El Paso, TX.
2005 “Surreal Icons,” one man show. Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, NM.
2005 “New Works,” three person show. People’s Galley, City Hall, El Paso, TX.
2004 “Holy H20 Show,” work exhibited. American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD.
2004 “Sculpture in the Streets.” juried show. Mesa, AZ.
2004 “Sculptors Dominion Invitational.” San Antonio, TX.
2004 Two person show. Arte Loca, Bernalillo, NM.
2003 “Loveland Sculpture Show,” invitational show. Loveland, CO.
2003 Works Exhibited. Crucible Gallery and Sculpture Garden. Norman, OK.
2003 “Sculpture in the Streets,” juried show. Mesa, AZ.
2002 “Outsider Art,” invitational show. Marcus Gallery, El Paso, TX.
2001 “Arts International,” juried show. El Paso Art Association, El Paso, TX.
2000 “E.P. Sculpture Society,” invitational show. International Museum of Art, El Paso, TX.
1999 One man show. Ironwood Industries, Austin, TX. Marfa, TX.
1997 ”Expanded Horizons,” invitational show. Marcus Gallery, El Paso, TX.
1997 “Masquerade,” one man show. Untitled Center of the Arts, Taos, NM.
1996 “Dioses del Futuro,” one man show. Museo Arqueologia, Juarez,. MX.
1995 “Arts International,” juried show, third place winner. El Paso Art Association, El Paso, TX.
1995 “The Surreal Edge,” two person show. People’s Gallery, City Hall, El Paso, TX.
1995 “Artistas Fronterizos,” invitational show. History Museum, Juarez, MX.
1995 “Tombstone Show,” juried show. Adobe Gallery, Cerrillos, NM.
1994 “Darkening,” three person show. Dark’s Art Parlour, Santa Ana, CA.
1994 “Masks,” two person show. Artspace 2300, El Paso, TX.
1994 “Darkside,” juried show. 8th Street Gallery, Albuquerque, NM.
1994 “Loveland Sculpture Show,” invitational show. Loveland, CO.
1994 “North American Sculpture Exhibition,” juried show. Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO.
1994 “Folk, Tribal, Contemporary Inspirations,” juried show. Perry House Galleries, Alexandria, VA.
1993 “Sculpture Walk,” juried show. Sedona, AZ.
1993 “Summer Salon,” invitational show. Spirit Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
1989 “U.S. Consulate Exhibition,” invitational show. Juarez Institute of Fine Arts, Juarez, MX.
1989 “Gods for Future Religions,” one man show. Bridge Gallery, El Paso, TX.

Contact Artist

Ho Baron
2830 Aurora Ave
El Paso, Texas 79930 (USA)
E-mail: hobaron@tsos.org
Tel. 915-562-7820

Also, please visit Ho's Web site: www.hobaron.com