Chris Bauder

After high school I moved to a small town in the Mojave Desert for two years, “We were somewhere outside of Barstow…” This was the only time that I spent living outside the state of Nevada.  Receiving my A.A. degree in 1998 I transferred to the University of Nevada, Reno in the fall of that year.  I found a home in the Fine Arts department under the guidance of Northern Nevada professors and a flourishing Reno art scene.   In the pursuit of my creative process I was encouraged to focus on sculpture and ceramics more thoroughly. For the next several years my devotion remained in studio art obtaining a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in 2004.  BFA in hand I returned to the Promised Land concluding my fine arts education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2008 with an emphasis in sculpture.

 

I was born in Las Vegas Nevada in 1978…I live there now.

 

Artist Statement

Having turned latex paint into shape I’ve satisfied two desires: abundance and accessibility of color and the manipulation of form. I dip and drip, pour, peel, stretch and stuff.  These plastic environments of semi-organic forms laden with sensual overtones bulge and sag, suggesting animated qualities and plush elements of various surroundings that reference the human body, science fiction entities and familiar objects of pleasure.

 

“Bauder’s hybrid style intersects painting and sculpture. He renders his subject matter—disembodied body parts, both human and alien—in exuberant colors and playful, high-gloss surfaces, using layers of latex house paint like an industrial fondant, which he manipulates it into a variety of shapes and textures. He describes his method as a process of “dipping and dripping, pouring, peeling and stuffing.” He pours paint onto large circular mirrors, which provide the flawless surface from which to later peel smooth sections of dried paint. He then molds, scrunches or texturizes it. He often works the material into sculptured organic shapes or wraps these large paint swaths around solid objects and tacks them down like upholstery.” By Cynthia Behr Warso, Vegas Seven, 9/8/11

 

Education

2008   Master of Fine Arts, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

2004    Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Nevada, Reno

1998    Associates of Arts Degree, General Education, Cerro Coso Community College, Ridgecrest, CA

 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2013

Skull, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

2012

Lush, Brett Wesley Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

Lust to Dust, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

No Strings Attached, Sheppard Fine Art Gallery, Reno, Nevada

2011   

“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids”, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

LXS – Legislative Exhibition Series, Carson City, Nevada

Skull, Blackbird Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

2010

LVSK8IV, The Place Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

Reign of Glass, Contemporary Art Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

Love Lost and Found, Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Reno, Nevada

The Dobermen MC, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

2009   

Drunk, Atomic Todd Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

LVSK8III, Henri and Odette Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

2008

Beyond the Valley, Donna Beam Fine Arts Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Collector, Donna Beam Fine Arts Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

Michael Sarich Tribute Exhibition (In Correlation with Like, Love, Lust), Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV

2007   

3Dementia, Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas, Nevada

A New Show, 12th and Taylor Gallery, San Jose, CA

The Depth of Fields, Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Nevada Reno

Show Us What You Go, Show Us Your Love! Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Nevada Reno

Contemporary Art Collective 18th Annual Juried Show, Juror: Sara Kellner, CAC Gallery, Las Vegas

Terminated, A6 Gallery, Henderson, Nevada

2006   

Straight on Til’ Morning, Grant Hall Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

LVSK8II, MTZC Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Last Apprentice, A6 Gallery, Henderson, Nevada

3-D Invitational, Las Vegas Government Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

55th Annual Art Round-Up, Las Vegas Museum of Art Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror:  Jeffrey Ryan

Teeny, Trifecta Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

2005   

Space Invaders, Aruba Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

Empty Set, The Artisan Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Awards and Honors

2013    Nevada Arts Council Fellowship Recipient

2007    Best in Show, UNLV Juried Art Exhibition

Cash Prize.  Contemporary Arts Collective 18th Annual Juried Show

2006    Sculpture Award.  55th Annual Art Round-Up, Las Vegas Museum of Art Juried Exhibition.

2003    Sierra Arts Annual Grant. Reno, NV.