"A sense of fun is an essential aspect of Donald's work.  When you see his flat sculptures, I think it's very easy to smile."  

-excerpt from a conversation between Charles Stuckey and Donald Baechler  

McClain Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of mixed media works by New York-based artist Donald Baechler.  

Well known for his brightly colored paintings with singular themed subjects from flowers, crowds to ice cream cones painted over heavily textured, multi-element backgrounds, this exhibition focuses on Baechler's exploration of flower motifs and follows their transition from drawings to paintings and their growth into three-dimensional volume as sculptures.

The silhouette-like shapes of painted flowers arching out of a vase or a single bloom are complimented by Baechler's flat sculptural forms with mottled, irregular surfaces akin to the richly-collaged grounds of his paintings.  An avid collector of images, he explores the potential of images after they are repeatedly used, seen or drawn - and in doing so evokes a universal language of cultural symbology.

About Donald Baechler

Born in Connecticut in 1956, Baechler lives and works in New York City.  He studied art in both New York and Germany.  He began exhibiting internationally in the early 1980s. 

His work can be found in over 40 public museum, university, corporate and municipal collections, including: The Museum of Fine Art, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centre George Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris; Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva; Museum Ludwig, Budapest; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; Lenbachhaus, Munich; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; Eli Broad Family Foundation; Fisher Landau Center; Sony Corporation; Thomas Ammann Collection; Peter Brant Collection; and the Revlon Collection.

Exhibition catalog with Donald Baechler interview by Charles Stuckey (art historian and independent scholar) will be available.  Please inquire for details.