Thistle, 1999

The paintings, prints, sculptures and mixed media compositions of Donald Baechler reflect his great interest in pop culture. He is described as a second-generation Pop artist and has developed his own unique style of art, based on balance, line and form. Baechler was educated at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Cooper Union, New York and the State Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His early paintings were created deliberately to look as if they had been drawn by a child. Most of his works are about nostalgia for childhood and things associated with that time in our lives. Baechler has expanded this theme by creating mixed media compositions that give the illusion of being personal and cultural histories. He has his own personal collection of pop images and kitsch objects, which is continuously growing, and uses items from this vast collection in his art, combining popular culture with his personal style of large scale painting. For his sculptures he also makes use of a variety of materials. Some of his flowers and plants, cast in bronze, are more than 5 feet tall. Since he was discovered by Tony Shafrazi, an art dealer who has also represented contemporary artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, works by Donald Baechler have been purchased by influential art collectors and major art institutions around the world. (Artist website)