Dan Baldwin's "Dead Innocent" at FORSTER
Published 29 months ago
The first UK show this year from the spraypaint-wielding West Sussex artist.
- Text by Maisie McCabe
Dan Baldwin, an artist often compared to Banksy and Basquiat, is back
with a new body of work based on images from popular culture, fine art,
and religious and political history. Since graduating from Maidstone
School of Art in 1995, Baldwin's work has been published widely
(including in Dazed & Confused, I.D, Vogue and Elle) and he has
exhibited in the UK, USA and Germany. His first UK show in a year opens
at FORSTER, Shoreditch on September 12.
Dazed
Digital: Are the sinister elements of your paintings a reflection of
the contemporary world? Or are they a constant in art?
Dan Baldwin: Yes and no. Always
they are there, some more subtle than others. It’s always a balance
between the two – life is full of the sinister but it’s beautiful. It’s
always dark meets light, good vs. bad, optimism vs. cynicism. A deer is
innocent and majestic, symbolic and folky, but place a creepy skeletal
hand next to it, a diagram of a jawbone, a screaming face, it becomes a
story.
DD: Can beauty exist without death?
DB: Nothing exists without
death. Death is part of life and vice versa. In my garden, a newly born
robin falls from the nest into the cat's jaw – just like that, it’s
born, it dies. Life is precious, death is omnipresent. I came across
the Vanitas movement by accident it. It was all skulls and guns, decay
and flies, fruit and flowers… I saw a correlation between what I was
doing and what they were saying; a lightning bolt.
DD: How do you feel about being referred to as an urban artist?
DB: Well, I am certainly
grateful for the attention that scene brought me, but I’m not urban –
graffiti and stencil art aren’t my thing. I enjoy using spray paint but
that’s more a love of colour. There are political references in my work
but I have always exhibited in the fine art world. Though Banksy and
Hirst are collaborating now; maybe there are no rules any more.
DD: Why do you use a variety of different media? How does it affect what you create?
DB: I’ve used mixed media, ever
since discovering Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, and Peter Blake.
I’ve always collected objects: sheep skulls, knives. I don’t plan my
work - it’s an instinctive, a piece grows organically. I’ll be close to
completing a painting and I’ll think: "what does this need?" Sometimes
the element will start the journey - a butterfly, an Iraqi banknote, a
WW2 photo, a bible.
DD: Which other living artists do you admire and why?
DB: I love Hirst because he is
a showman – same with Jake and Dinos, they don’t give a fuck. I love
Hockney’s skill and constant passion for paint and pencil; Peter Blake
is a true gent and I’ve always loved his attention to detail. I like
Jeff Koons - another showman. I have some Paul Insect pieces I love –
dark & sexy - and OBEY. Fiona Rae makes beautiful works, the
expressionistic and graphic that I love playing with in my own work.
And Grayson Perry’s pots are fantastic.
DD: What was it like being on the first series of The Apprentice?
DB: I love the show - although
we didn't know how successful it would become. I gave up two days to
set up this studio and I was filmed for three hours and on air for 12
seconds! When team one arrived, they were really into the work and I
was buzzing but team two were a right bunch of twits and I thought:
"what have I said yes to?"
DD: What have you got planned for the rest of the year?
DB: My next show's keeping me
busy, then SCOPE London in October with FORSTER. After that I produce a
piece for a charity event for Prostate Cancer Charity and then I start
my solo for LA 2009. No rest for the wicked.
DD: What would you like to achieve long-term?
DB: I guess a show out in New
York would be special as it’s always had that Warhol - Basquiat appeal.
A book! One day… I’m just warming up; I’m beginning to make some really
good work. I'd like to be in museums and great collections and have
more success on an international level – worldwide international art
stardom! Not much really!
Dead Innocent is at FORSTER, 1 Chapel Place, Rivington Street, EC2A 3DQ until October 25.
