Donald Baechler, a member of the East Village art scene in 1980s New York, is known for his painting-collage-drawing works depicting of childhood imagery and nostalgic ephemera like grammar school primers, old maps, and children’s drawings, or purposely cliché motifs such as a skull, a rose, a globe, and a soccer ball. Although critics have suggested that Baechler’s work, reminiscent of Jean Dubuffet, is a critique of innocence and sincerity, Baechler sees himself as an abstract artist whose concerns are primarily formal, rooted in line, shape, color, and composition. A 2011 solo exhibition included bronze sculptures based on childlike silhouettes of flowers as well as numerous faux-naïf black-and-white flower paintings. Baechler is often associated with other East Village artists, including Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Kenny Scharf.
