Scene Seen: A Vignette of Baltimore Music (2016-2022)

December 16 – January 22

Creative Alliance ARG Gallery 

Opening December 16 | 6-9PM 

View Online

Christopher J. Chester and Micah E. Wood are longtime collaborators in design and photography in Baltimore, MD. Upon meeting in 2014, they bonded over their studies of design and photography at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and their love for music. Music is the connecting force of their friendship. Scene Seen explores the Station North music scene between 2016 and 2022 from their perspective through photography and poster design. Baltimore has been known as a music poster city dating back to the 1960s with Globe Posters and continues that legacy.

Music, like visual art, draws upon memory, activates our emotions, and heightens our sense of identity. Addictive by nature, music has the tenacity to consume one’s life for the better. Everyone can remember hearing their favorite song for the first time—when it happened and where they were. Our love for music intensifies when it comes to Baltimore music. Baltimore’s vibrant culture is present in its music, which continues to draw attention globally. However, most have yet to come close to digesting all there is to the Baltimore art scene.

Christopher and Micah’s collective goal continues to be a personal representation of an artist’s music by visualizing their intent. Christopher hopes his posters will build excitement around a show and bring in new and familiar audiences. Micah strives to photograph musicians how they want to be seen and on their terms. Together, their work prioritizes musicians in the foreground.

Artist Bios

Christopher Chester (born February 7, 1990) is a Black graphic designer native to and based in Baltimore City. A MICA alumnus (2016), Christopher studied graphic design and continues to be interested in its influence and use within music, especially in local underground spaces where one’s identity is more experimental. Traditional printmaking and poster design have influenced Christopher’s work over time, taking elements of texture, simplicity, collage, and image manipulation to create his visual compositions. The silkscreen process of halftone, which uses single-color dots and spacing to create imagery, is a consistent element in his work. He currently teaches within the graphic design department at MICA and works at The Atlantic as a Senior Product Designer.

Micah E. Wood’s portrait photography flows with the vibrancy of the Baltimore music scene. Exploding with color, the work builds a sense of belonging and intimacy to the subject that can only be achieved by a thorough understanding of the specialness and sense of place in Baltimore. His portrait work from 2012-2016 culminated in his book Features, in which Micah turns his gaze adoringly on his favorite artists. Over the past eight years, Micah has continued to document individuals of the microcosmic Baltimore music scene, including emerging artists such as Snail Mail, to underground post punk bands, to electropop legend Dan Deacon. Micah disarms subjects, and curates intimate moments with the artists he photographs, and you can see that in his work. His approach to using light as a three-dimensional or sculptural form on the human is a playful feature that links both his portrait and landscape work.