Vote for Ho!

Newmanistas - in fact - ALL El Pasoans: Vote for Ho! The City/El Paso Magazine is taking a vote for Best in Culture. 

Here's the message from surrealist sculturist and Newmanista Ho Baron:

"Hi all! The City Magazine's nominated me, the Ho Show, for you guessed it, the Best in El Paso Culture. If ya gotta sec, vote for me ... pleeeeez!

"My show gets 1000s of passersby daily. It's a gallery without walls, open air at Piedras & Aurora featuring The Distortionists bronze sculpture, The Water God, The Kid, Chac Mol, Indignant, Mother and Child, The Classic Work, The Dysfunctional Family Tree, The Scarecrow Kids and many more.

"A Ho vote is a go vote so do it today ... and tomorrow ... and tomorrow ... and tomorrow (the City lets you vote daily). And I thank you." 

Go here to vote and remember that you can vote every 24 hours:


http://thecitymagazineelp.com/best-of-the-city-2013/best-in-el-paso-culture/

We are so lucky to have Ho Baron in the hood!

Open House Features New Book by Ho Baron

Click on image to enlarge.

Friends and neighbors, fellow artists, kindred spirits,

I’ve written and published a book about my sculpture, “Gods for Future Religions.”  Although the book is already available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, its official release will take place at my open house Sunday, February 24, 1-5pm.  The event is a book signing, and I invite all to visit, only to purchase the book if you wish but also to see a collection of figurative, surreal sculptures that’s a trip to experience.  The book itself is a colorful work of art, and it sells for $19.95.  Also I’d like you to see my “Dysfunctional Family Tree,” a new work in progress.

I’ve spent 30 years creating a collection of 300 sculptures.  My book weaves a story of a mythical kingdom where my sculptures play Jungian archetypal roles.  Personal anecdotes and observations enhance the narrative, while the book also highlights samples of my earlier pen-and-ink drawings and experimental drawing photographs. 

“Illuminated by the artist’s engaging insight,” one book reviewer noted.  He labeled the book “part monograph, part manifesto” and in a flattering stretch described me as “H. R. Giger meets Keith Haring.”  “Baron’s title, although meant to be tongue-in-cheek, signifies the cosmic nature of his art. His pieces appear as if they were discovered among the ruins of some Mesoamerican tribe theorized to have communicated with extraterrestrial beings.”

I hope to see you Sunday, otherwise look for me on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  When the world’s had enough of its existing gods, it’ll need new ones . . . and with my sculptures, I’m ready! - Ho Baron

Map to 2830 Aurora

Ho Baron Studio Tour Saturday and Sunday

Click on image to enlarge.

People know that the Ho House on the corner of Piedras and Aurora is a special place. The native landscaped yard guarded by "future gods" and gargoyles invites passer-bys into a timeless world of imagination and awe.

This weekend everyone is invited. Surrealistic sculptor and Newmanista, Ho Baron, is having a studio tour this Saturday and Sunday at his home from 10 to 5 both days.

"I imagine a lot of people wonder what I'm doing," Ho Baron told me. "I have most of my work in the basement and side yard, so that's what I'll have open for viewing. I'll have the upstairs closed."

Ho looks forward to seeing so many people at his home. "The more the merrier," he says.

1300 Visit Ho Baron's Home on Eve of All Hallows

Not Christine O'Donnell but a happy Newmanista ready to Trick-or-Treat

Newmanistas were well visited with happy trick-or-treaters on Sunday night. Ho Baron's home with its collection of surrealistic sculptures displayed throughout the yard and gardens drew an estimated crowd of 1300 people by 9:30 when they closed-up. They gave out 60 pounds of candy. The interacting living statues were exquisitely beautiful.

A living statue of unearthly beauty performs at the home of Ho Baron

The costume detail captures the essence of the second living statue

Best animal costume or 3 for $5 hold the pickle relish?

Ho Baron to Feature Two Living Statues on Halloween

Trick-or-treaters are bound to run into this witch and ghosts this Halloween.

Newmanistas are getting ready to greet trick-or-treaters again this Halloween. Many will likely be greeted by the scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns from the very successful Pumpkin Patch last weekend.

Once again the big excitement will center around Ho Baron's home on Aurora and Piedras. Ho sent this invitation to his neighbors in the Newman Park Neighborhood Association as well as to members of the Manhattan Heights Association:

"I'll be featuring two 'living statues' to entertain at my house this Halloween ever from 6:30 to 9:30. I've had a 'living statue' in front of the house as I hand out candy for the past 4 years; and this year there will be two on stands, spot lit and interacting. The concept of 'living statues' has become common on walking streets in larger cities, but it's rare to see this 'performance art' in El Paso. You all are invited to pass by."

Last year Ho Baron had one 'living statue'. This year there will be two.

Baron's art is one of the richest treasures of the Newman Park area.

Ho Baron Exhibit Begins at UTEP

Video courtesy of Lisa Degliantoni

Ho Baron's exhibit (Gods for Future Religions: Surreal Sculptures by Ho) opened yesterday evening at UTEP with a well-attended reception that included many of his neighbors.

Lisa Degliantoni gave this summary of the video:

"Tonight Newmanista Ho Baron celebrated a very well-attended opening of his work at the UTEP Exhibition Gallery. Known for his surreal sculpture The Water God that faces traffic on the corner of Piedras and Aurora, Baron is a longtime Newman Park Neighborhood resident. This show features more than 30 free standing sculptures plus a small room of about seven reliefs accented with vibrant colors. Influenced by his time spent in Africa when in the Peace Corps, Baron is collected all over the world and you can catch him this summer at the Santa Fe Flea Market where he'll have his own booth. For more information on Ho and his career, visit www.hobaron.com."

Of the opening reception Ho Baron said:

"The opening was a big success: lots of friends, lots of interesting people, a fine setting. Surprisingly, a number of people from the neighborhood showed up - people who had passed my house lots of times said they enjoyed my work but they'd never stopped to say 'hello'. It was great.

"My 'gods' shined."

Ho Baron Exhibit Opens March 4 at UTEP

Click on image to enlarge

Newmanista Ho Baron will exhibit his sculptures in the UTEP Student Union Gallery beginning with a reception next Thursday, March 4. The reception will begin at 7 p.m. Union East/2nd Floor. Entitled "Gods for Future Religions: Surreal Sculptures by Ho", the exhibit will run through April 2.

Mr. Baron's sculptures are well known to neighbors. His home is also a popular stop for trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

For more information about his art, visit Ho's website.

Living Statue Is the Hit of Halloween

Living statue "welcomes" Trick-or-Treaters to Ho Baron's Home

With its surrealistic statues keeping watch over the corner of Piedras and Aurora, the home of sculptor Ho Baron is the favorite of trick-or-treaters each year. Ho estimates that nearly 1,000 people visited his house this year for Halloween. The visitors were greeted by a living statue, Eric Myers, a mime from the El Paso theater group, KIDS-N-CO. Eric worked on his costume for days and then "performed" on Halloween night for 2-1/2 hours.

Ho told me that the "living statue concept is known in larger cities but, as far as I know, new to EP." Indeed, there is an annual competition in the Netherlands and an amateur group in Laguna Beach, California entertains people during the city's Festival of the Arts. The Living Statue Company in the UK performs at all events: weddings, parties and corporate events.

Paul Wegener's living statue in his classic German Expressionist 1920 silent movie, Der Golem, still arouses awe and fear.

Newmanistas Prepare for Halloween

Ghosts haunt the Milazzo's home on Altura

Newman Park Neighborhood Association Vice-President, Becky Friesenhahn, is getting ready to pick-up 80 pumpkins for tomorrow afternoon's pumpkin carving at Newman Park from 3 to 5 p.m. Board member, Rebecca Ayala, is gathering paint brushes. All kids 17 and under will be able to carve or paint funny or scary faces.

A mysterious creature awaits trick-or-treaters at 2830 Aurora

For the fourth year in a row, surreal sculptor, Ho Baron, plans to have a living statue (a stationary mime) to greet trick-or-treaters tomorrow night from 7 to 9 p.m. Mr. Baron's tribal and surreal, cosmic and baroque sculptures at 2830 Aurora are always evocative of the magic of Halloween. Each Halloween, Ho's home attracts over 500 kids.

A ghastly scene is sure to scare visitors to 2814 Frankfort

Spooky castle at 2535 Savannah