Blum & Poe presents a solo-exhibition by Darren Bader.

Preamble:

2 is the indomitable parallax of union and division. Therein lies its horror and divinity, its comedy and stupidity.

It takes two to make a thing go right; it takes two to make it out of sight (like literally, I can't see a thing).

Which number is the number of faith, 2 or 1 (infinity doesn’t count)? Ethically speaking, 2, since 1 is fantasy—fantasy and faith seemingly isomorphic, much like 2 and itself.

Try to separate them—it’s an illusion. (Pope Innocent III)

Amble:

The impulse is one of knowing: How to know? (Why to know and what to know are both tautological in their own ways. Who cares about where, and where knows no care of who. When is the point that is beside the point.)

Everything is everything as of course it can’t be.

Ask the local gentry, and they will say it's elementary. (Voltaire)

Dissemble:

You always wanted a lover; I only wanted a job. (Kanye West)

Words cleave; thoughts struggle to equalize.

Every time one wants to be valedictory, one is assailed by remains. Every time one wants to be present, one is assailed by doubts.

What have I done to deserve this? (Edward Snowden)

There's the noble notion that the abstract can eschew the anthropomorphic, and so it can. But it can’t do anything else at all.

How am I gonna get through? (Fredric March, Death Takes a Holiday)

Darren Bader (b. 1978) studied Film/Television and Art History at New York University. He has had solo exhibitions at MOMA PS1, New York and 1857, Oslo, as well as participated in group exhibitions at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan; FLAG Art Foundation, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami; LAXART, Los Angeles; White Columns, New York; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. He frequently writes and has published several books.

WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

(in Gallery 1 or on www.blumandpoe.com)

ponytail and/with canal

Rushdie and/with rösti*

rattlesnake and/with printer paper

concert harp and/with airplane tray table

sugar and/with axe

two with/and three

snowboard and/with closet 

oysters and/with peanut butter

borscht and/with omelets

ciborium-niobium-geranium-tedium

Bogart and/with Bacall

riot shield with/and yarn

Donald Judd with/and bee colony*

pothole with/and shoe box

ponytail and/with canal

patella with/and theater tickets

rickshaw and/with Russian doll

rope with/and Don Quixote

cocaine and/with photon gun*

obi and/with SCOBY
oak with/and smoke
owl and/with towel
oar with/and store
oil with/and mohel
oat and/with note
orc with/and fork

perfume with/and trapezoid

glasses with/and glasses

Bryan Cranston and/with sleeping bag

pointe shoes with/and recycling bin

composer and/with shin guard

14 with/and 6

audio file and/with audio file

(all) things remembered and/with everything (else) forgotten

archivist and/with railing

widower with/and mail

persian rug and/with tripod and/with sous chef

cotton gin and/with diving board*

swing and/with glove compartment

dovecote and/with font library

insulin and/with a/c unit

penis and/with zombie movie
breast with/and camera
clitoris with/and play
anus and/with greyness
testicles and/with weekend

4428 ½ with/and 4428

unicycle with/and bell jar

painting and/with sculpture

escalator and/with end zone*

elevator with/and Dagobert's throne*

gift basket with/and foghorn

jumproping lectern

hornet nest and/with turmeric 

pay phone and/with comic book

magnesium and/with maple

Rothko parking space*

kale and/with Braille

costume and/with pillow

cinder block with/and tuning fork

(dead) shark and/with subway car

rubber band ball and/with jack-o’-lantern

161 and/with 39

globe and/with pedestal

8 and/with 12

garlic with/and moss

Patricia Arquette with/and weather balloon

*Works stuck in limbo.

Selected Works