Glen Baldridge in his Brooklyn studio
Glen Baldridge
No Way, 2020
Acrylic on panel
10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.3 cm)
GB112
Glen Baldridge’s new paintings extrapolate age-old paper marbling techniques to make abstract paintings of camouflaged texts. Drawing from subculture slang and teen text abbreviations, the phrase “No Way”, is hidden in dense eddies of acrylic paint. Using his own hand made tools, Baldridge deftly manipulates the viscous paint for results that demonstrate both detailed control and material entropy. Their effects mimic the swirls of head shop paraphernalia as well as ancients manuscripts.
This Glen Baldridge viewing room is now closed.
INQUIRE HEREfor currently available works.
Glen Baldridge
No Way, 2020, GB110
Acrylic on panel
18 x 14 inches (45.7 x 35.6 cm)
Alternate view: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB110
Detail image: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB110
Alternate view: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB110
Installation view: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB111
DAVID KENNEDY CUTLER on GLEN BALDRIDGE
A distinct change has occurred in Baldridge’s latest work, and it is not merely his departure from the agitations of his printmaking training. He has stepped fully into the messy field of all-over expressive painting, bolstering his text-based work with bravado. The paintings have no foreground or background. They depict a jungle of oozing color hiding an awkward script below, literalizing the aphorism “unable to see the forest for the trees.”
These works derive from Baldridge’s continued mining of traditional artisan techniques — in this case the marbled paper tradition that spread from Asia to Europe, and was often used as a method to prevent against counterfeiting documents or spreading false information. Those skilled in developing the “secret knowledge” of the aqueous suspension of sinewy pigment across a field of paper became in demand as books began to be printed. Marbled end-leafs became a bridge between container and content, a bookend for the dissemination of civilization’s achievements.
In Baldridge’s rendition, the technique has lost its connective tissue. It has become the purview of psychedelic cake-makers and pot-paraphernalia. Embedded within the dank depths of acrylic polymers and pigments are base phrases that could be described as “dumb” (although Baldridge is keenly aware of that word’s double meaning as both stupid and inaudible). Burbling below the swampy surface are darkly comic nonsense phrases (World War IV, Rat Bite, Fun Funeral) that capture America’s descent into primal incoherence. Trumpeting the noise of our era, Baldridge cannibalizes received wisdom and pop culture into a riotous brew.
Yet these paintings are no buzz kill for the eye. They are humming with luminous intensity, delirious in composition, deciduous in saturated color. With sinister humor, Baldridge laces his paintings with traps to reflect the swamp of our culture, so bent on mindless self-satisfaction that it has become numb, desensitized and burnt out.
Writing about it reminds me now of visiting Glen in his studio.
“What does this one say?” I ask, squinting.
“Wait what,” he deadpans.
“Wait, what?” I ask, because I think he just asked me what I asked.
“Wait what.” He sets the trap again.
“Wait, what?” I ask again, lost.
And if I didn’t know him well, we could speak this way for hours, saying the same exact thing, but never comprehending what the other one means.
Glen Baldridge
No Way, 2020, GB109
Acrylic on panel
24 x 20 inches (61 x 50.8 cm)
Detail image: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB109
Detail image: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB109
Installation view: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB109
Glen Baldridge’s work has been collected and exhibited internationally, with recent solo showings at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, NY; Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton; and Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, OR. Baldridge has had print works published by Forth Estate, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Diue Donné, Flying Horse Editions, and PS Marlowe. His work is included in the collections of: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY Public Library, RISD Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, and Library of Congress, amongst others.
Glen Baldridge
No Way, 2019, GB093
Acrylic on panel
30 x 24 inches (76.2 x 61 cm)
Detail image: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2019, GB093
Detail image: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB093
Installation view: Glen Baldridge, No Way, 2020, GB093
EDUCATION
1995-1999 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, BFA Printmaking
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 No Way, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2018 All the Surveyors, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ
2017 Dream Burner, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Seer, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
2014Killer Moon, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2013Knock, Nacht, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, OR
2012 Under Rock and Stone, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
2011 Blaze, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Zig-Zag: Works on Paper, Blackburn 20|20, New York, NY
2009 Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2007 It Took Several Lies, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2005 The Dark Air, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2000 Glen Baldridge, Normand T. Dahl Gallery, Great Falls, Montana
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2017 PAIR: Alex Dodge & Glen Baldridge, The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH
2017 Glen Baldrige & Elias Hansen, Halsey Mckay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2011 Glen Baldridge & Bryan Graf, Halsey Mckay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2010 Leafless: Glen Baldridge & Benjamin Butler, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Pulled in Brooklyn: Curated by Roberta Waddell & Samantha Rippner with Luther Davis, IPCNY, New York, NY
Psychedelic Healing Cener, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
AXxoN N.: A Collective Commerary on David Lynch’s Inland Empire, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
The Garden of Earthly Delights, Washington Art Association and Gallery, Washington, CT
2018 Glade Hits, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Force of Nature, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles. California
2017Drawings & Prints: Selections from the Met Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Un/Settled, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
2016 November’s Bone, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2014 Ghost Current, curated by Ryan Wallace, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, DK
Thousand Year Old Child, with David Kennedy Cutler and Ian Cooper, Planthouse, New York, NY
2013 Static & Scrim, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON Canada
2012Parts and Service, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing, The Spencer Museum, Kansas City, KS
Where My Cones At, curated by Ryan Travis Christian, Double Break, San Diego, CA
2011 Forth Estate Editions, Halsey Mckay Gallery, East Hampton, NY
To Make a Flame, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, OR
2010 Forth Estate: New Editions, Wild Project, NY
Workspace Program 2009-2010, Diue Donne, NY
Nothing to Say, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Contemporary Prints, CRG Gallery, New York, NY
Forth Estate: New Editions, The Re: Institute, Millerton, NY
Weight Perception curated by Andrew Schoultz, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
New New York Publishers, Frans Masereel Center, Kasterlee, BELGIUM
RECENT EDITIONS: A printmaking exhibition from NYC publishers Forth Estate and Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery, NH
FORTH ESTATE EDITIONS: Recent Works, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, NY
Default State Network, curated by Ryan Wallace, Raid Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Default State Network, curated by Ryan Wallace, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY
2009 RBPMW Annual International Exhibition, juror David Kiehl, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Gallery, NY
One Every Day, A Printeresting Curatorial Project, EFA Project Space, NY
Swinging on the Wrecking Ball, Ferenbalm-Gurbrü Station, Karlsruhe, Germany
Friend or Foe, Collective Hardware, New York, NY
New Prints/Spring curated by Polly Apfelbaum, International Print Center New York, NY
With Hidden Noise, David Krut Projects, New York, NY
If The Dogs Are Barking, Artists Space, New York, NY
Boston Printmakers 2009 North American Print Biennial, 808 Gallery, Boston, MA
2008 PATTERN, Hallway Bathroom Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Kick Out The Jams, The Luggage Store, San Francisco, CA
2007 New Prints 2007, Silkscreen, International Print Center New York, NY
Inside Job, Earnest Sewn Project Space, New York, NY
2006 Forth Estate Editions, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Hot off the Press: Prints of 2006 from New York Print Shops, Grolier Club, New York, NY
CRG Presents: Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, CRG Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Also! Awesome!, Hallway Bathroom Gallery, San Francisco, CA
On the Beach, Printed Matter Back Room, New York, NY
Paper! Awesome!, Pigman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2 from LA 2 from NY, Froden Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2004 Multiples Show, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Paper! Awesome!, Mimi Barr Gallery, San Francisco, CA
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2013 Frans Masereel Centrum, BELGIUM
2012 BAM Cultural District Public Art Project, Brooklyn, NY
2009-2010 Workspace program, Dieu Donne Papermill, New York
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cutler, David Kennedy and Greer Pagano, Pair, Columbus, Pizzuti Collection Catalogue, 2017
Hart, Joseph, Glen Baldridge, Deep Color Podcast, Episode 28, November 2017
Schwendener, Martha, Gathering of Far-Flung Friends, and Trends, New York Times, May 8, 2014
Emmons, Amze, Thousand Year Old Child at Planthouse, Printeresting.org, May 3, 2014
Sanchez, Gabriel, Thousand Year Old Child, Artforum.com, April 2014
Levy, Michelle, Returning to Branches, ArtSlant, September 2010
Critics Pick, Time Out NY, September 2010
Critics Pick, Time Out NY, May 2009
Wilson, Michael, Picks, Artforum.com, May 2009
Green, Adam, Weekend Picks: Glen Baldridge in New York, Artinfo.com, May 21, 2009
Kley, Elisabeth, GOTHAM ART & THEATER:Glen Baldridge at von Nichtssagend, Artnet.com, May 18, 2009
Beyond A Memorable Fancy, exhibition catalogue, Elizabeth Foundation, New York, 2008
Hart, Joseph, Freight and Volume, Issue 2: Winter 2007/2008
Maine, Stephen, Art in Brief, Glen Baldridge: It Took Several Lies, New York Sun, May 31, 2007
Glen Baldridge: King of Art, Tokion Magazine, October 2005
Pallas, Hynek, The State of the Art, Bon Magazine, Fall 2005
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
New York Public Library, New York, NY
RISD Museum, Providence, RI
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Asheville Art Museum, NC
City of Orlando Public Art Collection, FL
Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, NY
Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
Fralin Museum of Art, Charlottesville, VA
Jundt Art Museum, Spokane, WA
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2013 Frans Masereel Centrum, Belgium
2012 BAM Cultural District Public Art Project, Brooklyn, NY
2009 Dieu Donne Workspace Program, New York, NY