We’re rounding off 2024 with something truly special from Dan Baldwin – an esteemed contemporary artist known for ‘psychological landscapes’ that muse on everything from religion and politics to nature and vulnerability.
To honour a successful working relationship that spans two decades, on Thursday 5th December we’re launching Dan Baldwin x Enter Gallery: 20 Years.
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This visually-spectacular exhibition will showcase works on paper, celebrating the artist’s passion for colour, the evolution of his practice, and his thoughtful exploration of the world we live in.
In today’s blog, we’re chatting to Baldwin to discover more about what to expect from the show, and diving into where his career has taken him and how his art has developed since he began working with Enter Gallery twenty years ago.
Once Upon a Time…
It was back in 2004 when Dan Baldwin walked through the doors of Enter Gallery and presented his first limited edition print for consideration. Baldwin had heard rumours from his fellow artists about the straight-talking approach of our CEO, Lawrence Alkin, but the pair got on famously from the off. Baldwin recalls:
“When I took in my first limited edition print, Divine Revelation, Lawrence and I got along really well. I like his straight-to-business attitude. He’s a good slap round the face. He forces you to be on it and to know your own output. In a world of bullshit, he cuts through all that. He’s kept his business going a long time, and I respect that.”
Hard Graft
Of course, this fateful meeting followed over a decade of hard-work and determination from Baldwin as he studied his craft at art college, moved into his first studio and worked tirelessly on developing his own unique style.
Things started slotting into place in the early 2000s after Baldwin secured spots in group shows in London and in exhibitions within Selfridges. In the years since, he has gone on to produce 25 solo exhibitions around the world, located across Europe, the USA and the Middle East.
Dan Baldwin art has also been licensed for fashion usage, album art, book covers and for use on TV and film. He has also enjoyed high-profile collaborations with the likes of Max Factor, British Airways, Pete Townsend and Paolo Nutini.
Dan Baldwin artworks have also captured the hearts and imaginations of a number of notable collectors including Sir Elton John, Shepard Fairey, Gilbert and George, Damien Hirst and Maxim and Liam Howlett from The Prodigy.
Over the years, Lawrence has continued to champion Baldwin, both at Enter Gallery, and through his previous galleries with shows held at Lawrence Alkin Gallery in Soho, and Ink’d Gallery in Brighton. This is one of the reasons Baldwin wanted to bring his latest show to Enter Gallery:
“Enter Gallery is an exciting space and the team know my work. I know the gallery will curate and showcase the works in the best possible way.”
True Colours
When we visited Baldwin in his studio, one thing that was immediately apparent was his passion for colour. Baldwin works surrounded by canvases in various states of completion, allowing him to sit with how colour combinations play together within each piece.
Colour will be at the heart of Dan Baldwin x Enter Gallery: 20 Years, with each artwork selected to showcase how he has worked with colour over the course of his career. Inspired by Baldwin’s greatest artistic influence, Andy Warhol, the exhibition will also play with repetition, displaying works alongside each other in different colourways. Baldwin reveals:
“I start with colour before I think about composition, and the colour I choose will depend on how I’m feeling in the moment. I get very obsessed with colour combinations. In fact, I’ve been told that I ‘paint like a print maker’ because I work in layers. I don’t really plan, I build each artwork up until its right and colour is always the starting point.”
Highlights of the show will include a beautiful new print, with every piece in the limited edition of 10 made unique via a one-off, hand-painted background.
There will also be a selection of original studies and smaller works, both of which present an incredible opportunity to own a Dan Baldwin original at an accessible price point. Baldwin reveals:
“I’m working with a great print maker to make the limited edition print. I’m doing a selection of backgrounds, some flat colours, and some textured. It’ll be the same image but because the background is different, everyone will have a one-off unique.
We’ve also gathered together a whole assortment of small originals, colour and compositional studies and little tasters from the studio. These have become very popular because people are interested in this first stage when I’m messing about with colour in the sketch pad. They’re much looser, quicker and fast.”
Fragmented Landscapes
In addition to demonstrating his passion for colour, Baldwin’s show at Enter Gallery will explore his evolving style and the themes and motifs that make a work distinctly Dan Baldwin.
One characteristic that defines Baldwin’s oeuvre is the fragmented nature of each carefully-chosen motif within the composition. He tells us:
“I always set out to create something that was distinctly mine, and developing my style took years. It clicked when I started to do the fragmented pieces. After so many years of experimentation, I had developed my own formula. It was a big moment because each artwork became about the narrative - about the skull in relation to the bird in relation to the flower in relation to the child. Everything is connected.”
Once I’m happy with the first layer, something will begin the compositional journey. It might be an element from nature, a flower, an animal, a skeletal element, a symbol. I don’t know where the composition is going to go until I start with the first element. The second element will be a reaction to what I put down first, and so on. It grows gradually, like a puzzle.”
Darkness and Light
One distinctive feature that defines Baldwin is how he mixes more sinister elements with lighter subject matter. Amongst the familiar motifs of flowers, birds and butterflies, Baldwin’s artworks are always infused with an imposing feeling of something malevolent lurking just off canvas.
Baldwin carefully selects each motif to tell a story. As he says, everything connects, but the story that is told is left up to the imagination of the observer, and what each motif means to them.
Over Baldwin’s years at Enter Gallery, we’ve seen a shift in the topics that his work has contemplated. His early works mused on life, death, religion and war via the inclusion of elements like real currency, crucifixes and war medals. He tells us:
“Back in 2004-2005, I was studying Dutch Vanitas paintings from the 15th century. Everything in these still life pieces was symbolic of mortality and death - hour glasses, skeletal hands, rotting fruit. I became obsessed with creating a modern take on Vanitas works, using motifs like birds, skulls, and cobwebs. In those early pieces, I wanted everything to be related in a provocative way.”
Nowadays Baldwin’s works are gentler, with motifs chosen from nature, which the artist reveals are, “symbolic of us, humans, our vulnerability and how we’re just trying to survive in a crazy world.”
The Road Less Travelled
Bringing together a show like this is a rare opportunity to showcase how artistry develops over the career of an artist. Since the day Baldwin walked into art college, his commitment to the artistic life has been absolute, following his instincts wherever they have taken him, from paintings and colourful prints to sculpture.
Much like the title of his recent piece (and one of his personal favourite works), Baldwin is an artist who has embodied the idea of The Road Less Travelled. Enter Gallery is excited to celebrate such a unique journey and incredible career.
Join us at the launch of Dan Baldwin x Enter Gallery: 20 Years, taking place from 6-8pm on Thursday 5th December. RSVP here
