Dan Baldwin, born in Manchester in 1972, has been exhibiting in the UK and Europe for the last 10 years, his paintings gracing the same walls as works by Julian Opie, Banksy and Tracey Emin. Baldwin's visual language consists of motifs and references from popular culture which he paints onto canvas or plywood using brightly coloured emulsion. Guns and skulls float alongside birds, butterflies and flowers - the natural world threatened by images associated with death, violence and the darker side of life. Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, twentieth-century symbols of innocence, are encroached upon by bones, birds of prey and political figures such as Hitler and Lenin in what Dan Baldwin describes as 'contemporary versions of 17th-century vanitas paintings'. Alan Sugar, the money-making guru who presents the BBC's show 'The Apprentice', recently chose Dan Baldwin as one of his top 5 up-and-coming British artists (does Sugar know more about contemporary art than he's letting on?). If you share Sugar's opinion and would like to buy one of Dan Baldwin's works or if you'd like to find out more about him click here to visit Baldwin's pages on Your Gallery.
Rebecca Wilson
Rebecca Wilson, formerly editor of ArtReview, is the editor of Your Gallery magazine.
Untitled, 2006
Disneyland Horror Show, 2006
The End of Everything, 2006
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