Off the Map Tattoo is co-hosting the Paradise Tattoo Gathering
Surfacing
"Surfacing"Recent works by Nick Baxter
June 9 – July 8, 2007
Opening Reception June 9, 5-9 pm
The fine art gallery space at Off The Map Tattoo Studio in Easthampton, Massachusetts, will present an exhibition of paintings and photographs by Nick Baxter entitled ‘Surfacing.’ The exhibition, which is Nick’s first ever solo showing, will open on June 9 and continue through July 8, 2007, and will feature 20 all new, thematically interwoven works. The opening reception from 5 – 9 pm on June 9 will coincide with the ongoing Art Walk Easthampton event, which takes place on the second Saturday of every month.
A multi-faceted fine artist and well-known tattooer working in southern Connecticut for several years now, this is Nick Baxter’s first opportunity to bring his artistic vision to the masses in the scope and form of a one-man show. This exhibition will feature ten interlocking and interrelated photorealistic oil paintings of fleshy, grotesque, layered macro-scapes. These will be juxtaposed with ten large-scale photographs of similar subject matter, with the goal of blurring the distinctions between the two mediums in order to further enhance the somewhat surreal, conceptualized content of the works. This approach will help immerse the viewer even more into Nick’s ongoing artistic theme of wavering logical and emotional certainties, warped realities and disorienting paradoxes, which he uses as a means of portraying the phenomena of violence, alienation, fear, and the denial of death in our crumbling and chaotic (post)modern society. This dark outlook is not all that Nick aims to offer, however, as the works in this show will include symbols of emerging beauty and ragged hope to help illustrate the positive intentions of the theme ‘Surfacing.’ To further this positive message and help provide answers to the often shocking and grim questions that his artwork aims to evoke, Nick will be giving away a myriad of completely free literature in the form of pamphlets, ‘zines, and even books. This material will deal with the social and political themes underlying Nick’s artwork from a primarily anarchist perspective, but all are invited to come view the artwork and read about some possible solutions to the problems facing our lives and our world.
Nick Baxter was born in 1981 in New Haven Connecticut, and has been a lifelong resident of the state. Following a lifelong passion for creative self-expression, as a high school senior he was granted placement in the Visual Arts Department at the Educational Center for the Arts, a magnet school in New Haven CT. He then attended the Paier College of Art in Hamden CT (Dean’s List) before pursuing a career in tattooing, while continuing to develop and pursue his interest in other fine art mediums such as painting, mixed media collage, and photography. Now tattooing six full years, Nick has gained international acclaim in the body art community for his thought-provoking, innovative motifs and has become widely recognized by others in the tattoo industry for his combination of fine art and technical tattooing skills. He has shown fine art works in numerous group exhibitions since 2003, and has been featured in every major tattoo art magazine (see attached CV for list of previous exhibitions and bibliography).
Off The Map Tattoo Studio is located at 112 Cottage Street in the quaint New England town of Easthampton MA, a community known for its progressive charm, and friendly, relaxing small-town atmosphere. Easthampton is just minutes off of Interstate 91 (Exit 17B in MA), and approximately 40 minutes from Bradley International Airport in CT. Off The Map’s regular business and gallery hours are daily from 12-9 pm. For further information or detailed directions to the tattoo studio and its fine art gallery space, call 413-527-6574, email them through (frontdesk@offthemaptattoo.com), or view the website at (www.offthemaptattoo.com). For interviews or direct correspondence with Nick Baxter, contact him through (nick@nickbaxter.com). For a comprehensive collection of Nick’s artwork in all of his preferred mediums, visit his website at (www.nickbaxter.com).
Gallery/Event contact:
Off The Map Tattoo
112 Cottage Street
Easthampton MA 01027
413.527.6574
frontdesk (at) offthemaptattoo (dot) com
www.OfftheMapTattoo.com
www.artwalkeasthampton.org
Artist Contact:
203.843.7731
nick (@) nickbaxter (dot) com
www.NickBaxter.com
ARTIST CV:
Nick Baxter
Born 1981 New Haven, CT
EDUCATION
1998-99 Educational Center for the Arts, Visual Arts Dept., New Haven, CT
1999-0 Paier College of Art, Hamden, CT, Dean’s List
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2003 Small Works Show, Visual Research Gallery, New Haven, CT
2004 A Grand Opening Celebration, Hope Gallery, New Haven, CT
Galleria De Los Muertos, CBGB’s Gallery, New York City, NY
Body Art, NewSpace Gallery, Manchester, CT
Tricks and Treats: One Year Anniversary Show, Hope Gallery, New Haven, CT
2005 The Art Fusion Experiment at COSM, Chapel Of Sacred Mirrors, New York City,
NY
5 x 5 Inside, Hope Gallery, New Haven, CT
Little Pieces of Autumn, Anomaly Studios, Pasadena, CA
2006 Revolution Is Free, Transcend Tattoo & Art Gallery, Branford, CT
2007 Blonde Bombshell, M Modern Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2002 “Straight Ahead: Darkside’s Nick Baxter.” Tattoo Revue, number 101, pp. 50-57
“Birth of A Super Studio: Darkside Tattoo.” Tattoo Revue, number 107, pp. 70-73
2003 “Real Life: Nick Baxter.” Tattoo Revue, number 114, cover, contents, pp. 60-67
2004 Cullison, Sherri. “The Weird World of Nick Baxter.” International Tattoo Art,
March, pp. 8-17
Green, Leo. “Then Pigment Meets Pixels.” Tattoo Flash, March, pp. 82-91
“Twenty of Today’s Most Influential Tattooists.” Skin Art, number 100, pp. 14-16
Hooten, Josh. “Interview With Nick Baxter.” Herbivore Vegetarian Culture, Issue
5, pp. 44-48
Helix: A Magazine of the Arts, Fall 2004 edition, front cover, pg. 60
2005 Helix: A Magazine of the Arts, Spring 2005 edition, pg. 63
“Less Me, More We: The Rise of the Collaborative Tattoo.” Tattoo Revue, number
122, pp. 32-40
“Transcendentalism.” Tattoo Revue, number 122, pp. 48-66
Helix: A Magazine of the Arts, Fall 2005 edition, pp. 20-22
2006 “Inspirational Tattooing with Nick Baxter.” Skin Deep, February, pp. 18-23
“Fresh Kept: Nick Baxter Chair Tattoos.” Vapors Magazine, number 34, pg. 22
“NickBaxter: Moderne Kunst aus Übersee.” Tattoo Spirit, Oct-Nov, pp. 32-37
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Create/Destroy
My goals as an artist are twofold, manifesting themselves on both a personal and societal level, and often merging the two realms from a subversive perspective. My intent in the personal sphere is to reveal the inner workings and processes of my subconscious in order to take steps of healing and personal growth. Externally, I seek to shed light on world events, consensus social standards, popular mores, and cultural norms in order to inspire the viewer to escape from constructed knowledge and to question assumptions of reality.
My intent with all of the mediums I use is to open up a new and unfamiliar mental/emotional territory within the viewer through the use of contradiction, ambiguity, hyperbole, and the grotesque. With this shocking imagery, I attempt to reach a point at which logical and emotional certainties waver, taste loses its bearings, and familiar realities warp into disorienting paradoxes.
My current body of work, which encompasses the different mediums of oil painting, photography, graphite/mixed media collage, and sometimes tattoos, is focused primarily on the phenomena of violence, alienation, fear, and the denial of death in modern society. It is also an exploration of the conflict and cooperation between various opposing forces on both microcosmic and macrocosmic levels. The imagery I utilize to convey this sociopolitical critique often takes the form of abstract metaphors.
I have a strong appreciation for the discipline of life drawing based on direct visual observation, and for the fundamentals of accurate rendering in representational art. I strive for realism in my work in order to lend a sense of photographic concreteness, or credibility, to the often intangible concepts I wish to convey.
www.nickbaxter.com