about the artist

Sarah Baley is a photographer born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.  She graduated from Art Center College of Design. Baley lives and works in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Her photography is in the permanent collections at the J Paul Getty Museum, The Brooklyn Museum of Art and in numerous private collections. She is best known for her series Bois which is one of the first contemporary art series on the gender queer community.

“Sarah’s work liberates identity from the intersectionality of sex, class, race, geography and all the labels that define social normalcy. Her series Bois is a response to the heterocentrism and gender stereotypes of the dominant culture. Her work continues a visual discourse that can be traced from Robert Mapplethorpe, through Catherine Opie, in its truthful portrayal of queer culture. And much like her photographic predecessors she uses classicism to depict beauty and upholds an integrity to the craft.” ― Grace Moon

Much of her work feels like being immersed in a fractured daydream in which images defiantly turn the lens by holding a mirror to the viewer.  She developed an early interest in film, particularly the work of Italian Neo-realists and French New Wave, American classics and draws inspiration from Tenebrism and Chiaroscuro painting, Middle Eastern art and poetry.

“Always go too far, because that’s where you’ll find the truth”
― Albert Camus

CV

studio tour (preview)