Caution, High Trailer

Peter Baczek

Baczek masters the art of powerful simplicity in this depiction of a quiet shipping yard whose sunlit containers are juxtaposed by the solid, creeping black shadow cast by late afternoon light. Baczek’s eye travels along the lines of the abandoned shipping trailers and the equally rigid lines of the shadows they cast. As the viewer casts about for signs of civilization in this composition of stillness, one possible clue is suggested by a simple sign, a reminder of semis, open highways, and the winds of travel: “CAUTION - HIGH TRAILER”.

Baczek’s work often focuses on landmarks of civilization without the human element. City streets after closing time; a rarely-traversed rural road; the hidden courtyard of a Southwestern abode -- all with a quietly dramatic quality that encourages the viewer to see these man-made structures as something less architectural and more akin to portraits.