Fresh Florals
Three bouquets of fresh flowers were delivered to Zane Bennett Contemporary Art just in time for spring! Donald Baechler and Polly Apfelbaum differ in their approaches to the timeless motif of still life, yet both artists share an enthusiasm for playful renditions.
Baechler’s The Two-Sided Flower depicts a single rose that could have been plucked out of Disney’s The Beauty and the Beast. However, this childlike innocence balances with a distinct edginess reminiscent of the 1980s East Village art scene of NYC. Additionally, the double-sided diptych’s background and shift in palette demonstrate Baechler’s interest in the formal concerns of abstraction, including explorations of color, negative space, and fluid line.
Polly Apfelbaum’s woodblock prints lean into the powerful femininity of brightly-colored flowers. The compositions are in-depth studies of rainbow hues and flattened, geometric forms, but they initially read like doodles from a school composition book. Cheerful and groovy, Apfelbaum’s compositions eschew the traditional machismo of artmaking with bold and busy prints that will light up any room!
Born in 1956, Donald Baechler is a celebrated and internationally-recognized contemporary American artist. Incorporating Pop imagery, symbols, and commercial icons into his works, Baechler is a major luminary of the Neo-Expressionist movement. Today, his works are held in The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and The Centre George Pompidou, Paris among other institutions worldwide.
Polly Apfelbaum (b. 1955) is a contemporary American artist who has achieved great success through her bright paintings, drawings, sculptures, and installations. Receiving her BFA from the Tyler School of Art in Pennsylvania, Apfelbaum has consistently exhibited since her first solo show in 1986. Her artwork is held in numerous collections, including the Brooklyn Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Museum of Modern Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Apfelbaum is the recipient of several major grants and awards, including the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.
