Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery is pleased to announce the third solo exhibition of works by Glen Baldridge. A reception for the artist will be held Friday, May 8th, from 7-9pm.
In his new body of work consisting of prints, drawings, and sculptures, Baldridge utilizes a diverse set of visual and material cues drawn from sources such as found coffin catalogues, losing lottery tickets, trompe l’oeil bullet holes, and knife infomercials to convey a gravely ambivalent approach toward consumerism and mortality. Through his use of various media, Baldridge offers us several scenarios through which to view a future somehow at rest right on the edge of physical violence or destruction, or alternating between success and failure, all the while maintaining a humor that belies the severity and darkness of his themes.
A suite of silkscreen prints features stock-photography images of coffins taken from a sales catalogue found in Baldridge’s apartment, a former coffin factory. The images are coated with a silver lottery scratch-off surface featuring fleur de lys patterns which is then scratched off to reveal the coffins and their varying levels of quality and expense–bleak reminders that a similar fate awaits beyond all levels of worldly luck and success. A large scale print in the show brandishes the words “The End’s Not Near it’s Here” written in bullet holes taken from automotive decals on a ground of sparkly hot rod color shift pigment. The prophetic text describes imminent doom in a dazzling glamour while sharing its verse with the title of the series finale of the FOX television series, The O.C.. Sculptures in the show also elaborate on Baldridge’s humorously macabre aesthetics. A tower made from Jenga® blocks stands partially burned having somehow survived an unknown attempt to destroy it. A collection of losing lottery tickets is displayed and preserved in a glass jug which is presented on a pedestal of milk crates. A third sculpture displays a set of knives ordered from a “limited edition” set sold through a KnivesLIVE infomercial stuck into a cut stump of wood still covered in bark and moss, their feeble sizes and low grade character standing in stark contrast to their Excalibur-like affectations. A new powdered graphite drawing depicts a solitary tree in a suburban landscape partially obscured by ash falling from the sky, suggesting a casual view of one’s backyard at the fallout of some major conflagration.
Glen Baldridge’s work is in many public and private collections in the US and abroad including the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Public Library, The RISD Museum, and the Jundt Art Museum.
