Baroness Frontman Puts Art to Rest With Gallery Show — Exclusive Video

Before Savannah, Ga. psych metal band Baroness head out on the road on Nov. 18 to celebrate the release of critically acclaimed 'Blue Record,' frontman John Baizley will do some celebrating of his own at his first gallery show, 'The Art of John Baizley,' which opens on Nov. 6 at the Metropolis Gallery in Lancaster, Mich. and runs through Nov. 30.

Baizley tells Noisecreep he's excited to unveil his work, yet he admits that he was initially reluctant to put a retrospective together, despite his strong interest in art and his active roll in creating artwork for numerous bands, including Baroness, Kylesa, Pig Destroyer, Torche, Black Tusk and others.

"There has been some moderate interest from gallery owners in having me hang some work from the past couple years, and I've really been reticent to do mostly just based on the fact that I'm more interested in working than showing," he says.

%VIRTUAL-globalVideoEmbed-{"videoIds":"517557168","width":"400","height":"346"}%

So what changed his mind? "The people at the Metropolis seemed really genuine and really interested in artwork before finances," he explains.

The Metropolis is advertising the solo show as being "comprised of all-new pieces, unrelated to any band or album release," but Baizley says he wants his album art to be just as much a part of the exhibit as his previously unreleased images.

"My intent here is to showcase some of the work that I prefer that I've done," he says. "And some of that's gonna be the album cover artwork. Some of that's gonna be just these little images from merchandise or unused projects, and there'll be some fresh stuff, too."

For Baizley, the exhibit is less a way to immortalize his work than a method of clearing the decks and establishing closure. "It's really an effort to take a step forward with my art," he says. "And maybe give what I've been doing for the past four years a proper send off."