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Darren Bader is an American conceptual artist known for works that explore the conditions under which art is produced and experienced. In a 2018 profile, Nikil Saval claimed "Bader's work, in other words, challenges and provokes the viewer to ask what precisely art is."[1][2]
His practice spans sculpture, installation, instruction-based works, digital projects, and socially engaged situations.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Darren Bader was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1978. He studied Film and Art History at New York University.[3] He lives and works in New York City.
Career
[edit]Bader's art frequently uses found materials, delegation, chance, and conceptual instructions rather than traditional fabrication.[2][4][5]
For much of his career, Bader has made artist books and publications. His first book, James Earl Scones (2005), contains correspondences with art institutions about proposed projects. In one, he asks the director of Rome's Capitoline Museums for permission to ride naked on the famous ancient Roman equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, ensuring the director that “this performance is an act of sheer reverence for both the continuum of Western art and the inexorable presence of history.”[2][6]
During his 2012 show at MoMA PS1, he exhibited live kittens up for adoption, and one of them was adopted under the title, "cat made out of crabmeat."[7][8] His installation also included uncredited works by other artists and two non-vegetarian burritos.[9]
In 2013, Bader received the Calder Prize, which came with a $50,000 prize, and a residency.[10]
In 2020, Bader presented fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, a participatory salad sculpture at the Whitney Museum of Art. In the afternoon and evening, four times a week, food items were taken from pedestals and turned into an edible salad of the artist's design.[11][12]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Saval, Nikil (13 August 2018). "Money for Sale, Heroin-Injected Lasagna: How One Artist Is Defining Our Era". The New York Times.
- 1 2 3 Boucher, Brian (26 May 2023). "Want to Be an Artist? You're in Luck. This One Is Selling His Practice". The New York Times.
- ↑ Blidaru, Adriana. "Living Content 13. Interview with Darren Bader". www.livingcontent.online.
- ↑ Bader, Darren (2021). Darren Bader: The Typist 2020-2002. Casimir Books. ISBN 978-1-7366676-0-6.
- ↑ "Darren Bader on Forest/Trees". Office Magazine. 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
- ↑ Scott, Andrea K. (2017-08-03). "Darren Bader's Living Sculptures". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
- ↑ Simonini, Ross (2014-03-06). "Darren Bader". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
- ↑ Pulitzer, Sam (2012-05-01). "Darren Bader". Artforum. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
- ↑ "Darren Bader at MoMA PS1, New York". Contemporary Art Library. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
- ↑ Desk News (14 May 2013). "Darren Bader Wins 2013 Calder Prize". Artforum.
- ↑ George, Cassidy (21 January 2020). "I Ate the Worst Salad of My Life in the Name of Art". The Cut.
- ↑ Fraser, Ariana E. (2 September 2021). "Darren Bader: fruit, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad: Christie Mitchell, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 15–February 17, 2020". The Senses and Society. 16 (3): 366–368. doi:10.1080/17458927.2021.1966205.