Bash Compactor: This Charming Man
[Charming Baker] is the name of a painter. Honestly. The U.K.-based artist opened his first American solo show last night at [NY Studio Gallery](http://www.nystudiogallery.com/) on the Lower East Side. Baker has eschewed galleries in the past, but was convinced to stage his Stateside debut in one thanks to big-budget music promoter Pat Magnarella. Thats the hook: Magnarella, who manages Green Day and a bunch of washed-up alt-rock like Goo-Goo Dolls, now promotes finearts painters. As strange as that sounds, it seems to be working: Bakers show sold out completely in the first couple hours.
But theres no spin here, because the show speaks volumes for itself. Bakers work toes the line between sinister and totally, well, charming. A palette of neutrals with bright flashes, cute animals, Victorian motifs and juxtaposition of the violent with the adorable made for a moving show. Revealing titles gave weight to half-completed figures. Pop Art sensibility caved under personal import. A majority of the paintings had been shot. With guns.
Its just so bloody violent, right? You paint this cute animal and blast the fuck out of it, it creates a strange balance between the good and the bad, Baker said.
The good/evil dichotomy is a theme running through the entire show, which also featured paintings with titles like Just One Of The Many Gods I Dont Believe Ina dark, four-footed, mammalian figure with a Jason hockey mask, painted on wood, holes drilled for maximum effect.
Were all worshiping things we probably shouldnt be, too much of the time, Baker said.
That sentiment also drives the title of the show: [Stupid Has A New Hero].
Its all around us, right? he said. At this party, stupid surprisingly wasnt; the three-floor NYSG played show to an unexpectedly appreciative crowd. But, although there were only six of 16 paintings in the second-floor space, around 80 percent of the visitors were up there, cloistered around the bar, downing Prosecco with peach Looza or beers from Brooklyn Brewery. Baker drank the lager.
Unfortunately its warm because Ive been talking so much. But I shall drink a lot of it. And then move on to spirits.
The show was a strictly guest-list affair, but the young blond woman with the list started letting anyone in after a point.
Lots of people forgot to RSVP, so at this point its OK, she said.
A Christopher Meloni lookalike with a wife as exotic as his garb sat in the same spot for the better part of two hours. She poured beer into his mouth from a bottle, his gray ponytail bisecting his back. He wore a baseball glove that rested on a gold-hilted cane. She looked uncomfortably at his sneakers. It was a good party.