Press release

The Baldwin Gallery is pleased to present a new sculpture series by Donald Baechler, supported by attendant paintings and works on paper. Well known for his complex and richly layered compositions, Baechler’s collage techniques distill multiple disparate elements into powerful visual statements.

Through his work, Baechler explores the formal qualities of abstraction, with a particular emphasis on mark-making, form and proportion. His graphically powerful mixed-media work is strongly rooted in the cultural iconography of early to mid 20th-Century America, with an elaborate aesthetic formed of funny pages, advertising images, 19th-Century silhouettes, and other found detritus of popular culture. Baechler distills these ephemera with other inspirations through the half-light visual memory of our modern world. Frequently, a central iconic image is juxtaposed against assorted collaged and painted elements to create an elaborate narrative relationship among the familiar forms. The process of a composition is centrally important to the work, and he often revises the textured surface many times before a collage, sculpture or painting is finished.

Donald Baechler has studied at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, at Cooper Union, New York, and Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Städelschule in Frankfurt. For over twenty years, Baechler has exhibited his work widely throughout the United States and abroad.

Also showing at the Baldwin Gallery, will be a first exhibition presenting paintings by the young New York artist Kevin Baker. Baker transforms floral oilcloths into playful paintings. Each flower or plant life he paints comes alive and floats in a foggy organic atmosphere where little gravity exists. On top of the oil cloth surface, Baker whimsically paints images of flowers that become jellyfish, corals, or sea anemones. He uses dots of vibrant oil colors to create these water-like creatures. There is an underlying nature of repetition in Baker's work. Through layers of drawing and painting glazes, it is often difficult to see how the oilcloth existed before it was painted.

Kevin Baker was born and raised in Central City, Kentucky. Baker received his bachelor of fine arts from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green Kentucky. He received his MFA from Miami University in Oxford Ohio. His collections include the Cincinnati Art Museum. He lives and works in New York City.

Images are available upon request. Please call 970.920.9797 for further information.