Mixed Messages
Exhibition complete
Mixed Messages : A collection of artworks that fuse conflicting ideas and techniques harmoniously.
In Mixed Messages, Bailer draws inspiration from his personal narrative, the news and current social climate, pop culture iconography, ancient indigenous cultures, and his long-standing admiration of traditional temple carvings, paintings and designs. All of these inputs have been absorbed and then projected onto various surfaces in a myriad of mediums using a big bag of graffiti techniques honed over a twenty-year career. From spray paint and markers to play-doh and plasticine, Bailer is not locked to one medium. Many pieces are covered with epoxy resin, separating them from the viewer as though they are viewing a screen, peering into a rockpool or contemplating stepping through a portal into an alternate universe.
Bailer contemplates the parameters of graffiti - does it exist only when it is illegal? Once the criminal element of the practice is taken away, is there a shift in perception from the maker to the viewer? Why Is street art to be admired and applauded while graffiti is to be painted over and derided? At what point can a graffiti artist exist in the studio without compromising their artistic integrity and history?
Mixed Messages enables Bailer to illustrate his ability to move through multiple art styles with cohesion and fluidity, communicating that starkly contrasting thoughts and feelings can be synthesized through a variety of visual mediums. Mixed Messages is Bailer’s first solo show of 2022, coinciding with the opening of Let’s Pretend Gallery in Prahran, Melbourne. Let’s Pretend has been made possible with an Arts Grant from the Stonnington Council.