Darren Bader

Installation view, eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin, 2020
Darren Bader is a conceptual artist working across a broad range of media. He is known for his experiments with language, misattribution, found objects, and chance. With works that have included gestures like selling money, releasing live goats into a gallery, or a sculpture that has its owner buy every item in an eBay seller’s shop, Bader’s practice considers the processes through which we ascribe value to objects and how they become art. “Contemporary art is by its very nature kind of a tenuous proposition and category,” Bader claims, “I always sense these fault lines, and perhaps I’m overly sensitive to it—perhaps paranoid, I don’t know.”
Darren Bader (b. 1978, Bridgeport) lives and works in New York. Selected solo exhibitions include MACRO, Rome; MoMA Ps1, New York; and Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne. He has exhibited work at the 2019 Venice Biennale and 2014 Whitney Biennial, as well as group exhibitions at UCCA, Beijing; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; MOCA, Miami; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; and Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art.
fünfdreier
Société, Berlin 2023

Installation view, fünfdreier, Société, Berlin, 2020
Daniel was persistent. His enthusiasm unflagging. He would not be deterred.
He pined/designed to realize amazon.com sculpture @ Wielandstraße 26 as natural sequel to eBay sculpture.*
Yes the two works were co-conceived, but I wanted to leave them to their lives—those their owners give them.
Daniel persisted. (Perhaps he knows I enjoy pleasing as much as I “enjoy” being inflexible.)
So we've come to a happy medium: he gets to enjoy the medium of "instruction-based sculpture," i.e. he gets to follow the instructions himself.
There are** five medium-specific works in this show (tentatively titled fünfdreier). One work is realized here for the first time. Another may yet remain unrealized. Two others have never gone beyond exhibition copy.*** One of these copies won't appear as one here, instructions for the work staying strictly instructional.**** The fifth and/or primal work will be Amazon.com sculpture, which I've never known as non-exhibition-copy (present iteration included), but may exist somewhere as the “real thing”.
Per its title, the show’s related to the number 3. I'm sure I'll have to wait a fair while to understand whether the relation is important—terse ternary, atonal tercet, mere sequence… Till then, here's a quincunxish quintet that may or may not be: tertiary, part-ternate, a “third third” preferred word I’ve been unable to pin-down, 33%…
*Our 2020 inflatables spectacle, also instruction-based.**Only if you're reading this at the right moment. If not "are", "will be" and/or "have been".
***Industry term.
****At least in the hands of Société or hands they could purposefully instruct to see instructions through.

Installation view, fünfdreier, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, fünfdreier, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, fünfdreier, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, fünfdreier, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, fünfdreier, Société, Berlin, 2020
eBay sculpture
Société, Berlin 2020

Installation view, eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin, 2020
The work has its owner buy every item a single eBay seller has for sale.* The owner can then do whatever they’d like with the items, though it’s recommended they keep the items somewhat near them** and keep the group of items in its entirety as long as possible.
*After which it’s probable the seller will start to sell new items. The work’s owner can continue to purchase from this seller.
**At times.

Installation view, eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin, 2020

Installation view, fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2020

Installation view, fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2020

Installation view, fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2020

Installation view, fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2020

Installation view, Mends of Scott Friendes, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 2021

Installation view, Mends of Scott Friendes, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 2021

Installation view, Mends of Scott Friendes, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 2021

Installation view, Mends of Scott Friendes, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 2021
I don't know
Société, Berlin 2018

Installation view, I don't know, Société, Berlin, 2018

Installation view, I don't know, Société, Berlin, 2018

Installation view, I don't know, Société, Berlin, 2018
Solo exhibitions
-
2022
Wonths every few Monce, Sadie Coles HQ, Regent Street viewing room, Kingly Street, London, England
Spring Cleaning / Vernal Post-Hibernal Journal, online/chain
-
2021
Darren Bader: The American Express Holiday Show, Harkawik, New York NY, USA
Group Show, Dries Van Noten off-site: The Little House, Los Angeles CA, USA
Bootlicker Suite, MACRO — Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome
The Plastic Arts (Life Suffuses, Cells Amused), Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Mends of Scott Friendes, Sadie Coles HQ, London -
2020
I plantain platitudes..., Andrew Kreps Gallery, digital
Fomo Haber, Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles
eBay sculpture, Société, Berlin -
2019
Interlude, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin
-
2018
character limit, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
I don’t know, Société, Berlin
E/either e/Either n/Neither N/neither, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
more or less, Sadie Coles HQ, London -
2017
(@mined_oud), Madre. Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina, Naples
Forest/Trees, Greenspon, New York -
2016
such are promises, Sadie Coles HQ, London
-
2015
rocks and mirrors, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin
Reading Writing Arithmetic, Radio Athènes, Athens
light (and) regret; The World as Will and Representation; Final Fantasy, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne -
2014
Egg, Chicago
Darren Bader, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York -
2013
Heaven and Earth, Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
#I am just living to be dying by your side, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin -
2012
New Buildings About Songs and Food, Sadie Coles HQ, London
Where Is a Bicycle’s Vagina (and Other Enquiries), or, Around the Samovar, 1857, Oslo
Images, MoMA PS1, New York -
2011
Chad Ochocinco, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
-
2010
Darren Bader, Alex Zachary, New York
Number[s], Eighth Veil, Los Angeles -
2009
New Work, 303 Gallery, New York
Darren Bader, T&Sn’Kreps, New York -
2008
Darren Bader, gallery.sora, Tokyo
Nic Cage: A Bridal Tour of Southern California Foundries, 2nd Cannons Publications; Pauline Gallery, Los Angeles -
2007
as = poaching the poachers, Rivington Arms, New York
-
2004
Cat, Rivington Arms, New York
Group exhibitions
-
2022
Corridor, ELDERS, Kortrijk
The Painter’s New Tools, Nahmad Contemporary, New York NY, USA
-
2021
sub/dominium, Château Shatto, Los Angeles CA, USA
It Is What It Is, Chateau Shatto, online
The Going Away Present, Kristina Kite Gallery, Los Angeles
Tales of Manhattan, Anton Kern Gallery, New York
Fair Use: What’s Mine is Yours, curated by Alison Gass, Altman Siegel, San Francisco
The Looking Glass, Acute Art w/ The Shed and High Line Art, New York
100 Sculptures, anonymous gallery, New York
BREADCRUMBS, Galerie Nagel Draxler, Cologne
Doomed and Famous: Selections from the Adrian Dannatt Collection, Miguel AbreuGallery, New York
La Boîte-en-Valise, Office Baroque, Antwerp, online -
2020
Mirage: Contemporary Art in Augmented Reality, UCCA Beijing, curated by Daniel Birnbaum
Me, Family., Mudam, Luxembourg, online, curated by Francesco Bonami, Emanuela Mazzonis di Pralafera and Luigi Alberto Cippini
4,571 miles, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
Animal Kingdom, Alexander Berggruen, New York, online
Sarah Lehrer Graiwer curates, Gallery Platform LA, online
Focus Group II, Von Ammon Co., Washington, online
Il Lenzuolo Viola, Ermes-Ermes, Vienna -
2019
Furniture of Desire, Lie Lay Lain, New York
who knows one, Vistamare, Pescara, Italy, curated by Haim Steinbach
Chairs Beyond Right and Wrong, R & Company, New York, organized by Raquel Cayre
May You Live in Interesting Times, the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, curated by Ralph Rugoff -
2018
Fake As More, Simon Lee Gallery, New York, organized by Front Desk Apparatus
Could you visit me in dreams?, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, Galerie Nadia Halgand, Vienna
Stop Making Sense, Transmitter, Brooklyn
Pizza Is God, NRW-Forum, Dusseldorf
Stories of Almost Everyone, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles -
2017
This Light, Kunstlerhaus Stuttgart
Pompei@Madre. Materia Archelogica, Madre. Museo d’Arte Contemporanee Donna Regina, Naples
Publishing as an Artistic Toolbox: 1989-2017, Kunsthalle Wien
Ripple Effect, Centre for Contemporary Art FUTURA, Prague
(Interlude), Cookie Butcher, Antwerp
Synthetic Divide, ACRUSH, Zurich
Fleming Faloon, Office Baroque, Brussels
Earth Day, Ramekin Crucible, New York
Friend ? ?, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich
Acordo de confiança, Biblioteca Mario de Andrade, São Paulo, curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti
.com/.cn, curated by Klaus Biesenbach and Peter Eleey, K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; chi K11 art museum, Shanghai
LOW, XYZ Collective, Tokyo
Jade Bi, Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon, curated by Sara de Chiara
Dreamlands (Screenings), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York -
2016
Not For Sale, Lovaas Projects, Munich
For Pete’s Sake, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm
Phantasmagoria, The Stolbun Collection, Chicago
An Idle Visitation, AND NOW + Hester + Tomorrow, Santa Fe
Goulding the Lolly, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York
Not My Bridge, Not My Water, Aetopoulos, Athens
Your Memories Are Our Future, ACRUSH, Zurich
Tomorrow is a new day, Yacht Walanka, Monaco, curated by Stefan Tasch
Roman à Clef And/Or The Appetite Of The Chef, Rainbow in Spanish, Los Angeles
Can I Step on It?, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin
In the Making, Luxembourg & Dayan, New York
One, No One and One Hundred Thousand, Kunsthalle Wien
The Coveter, Dickinson Roundell, New York, curated by Alex Glauber
The Calder Prize: 2005-2015, Pace London
Fluidity, Hamburger Kunstverein, Hamburg -
2015
Political Populism, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
The peoples biennial 2015, New York
13th Biennale de Lyon, La vie moderne, curated by Ralph Rugoff
Darren Bader, Liz Magic Laser, Takeshi Murata, A Video Exhibition, Boatos Fine Art, São Paulo
The Daily Show, Bureau, New York
What We Found, Non Objectif Sud, Tulette
Objects, Foods, Rooms, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, curated by Andria Hickey
The Visitors, Governors Island, New York, curated by Tom Eccles and Ruba Katrib
Under the Clouds, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto
Art Unlimited, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland, curated by Gianni Jetzer
Love For Three Oranges, Gladstone Gallery, Brussels, curated by Karma
Small Sculpture, Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago
The Luluennial: A Slight Gestuary, Lulu, Mexico City
Constructed Culture sounds like Conculture, curated by Samuel Leuenberger, Ellis King, Dublin -
2014
In Real Life, Christine Koenig Galerie, Vienna, curated by Luca Lo Pinto
RRBGGGRWW (polysemes), Grand Century, New York, curated by Franklin Melendez
Nuit Américaine, Office Baroque, Brussels
Tragedy + Time, Public Fiction and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Urs Fischer, Sadie Coles HQ, London, curated by Urs Fischer
Art Basel Parcours Basel, Switzerland, curated by Florence Derieux
Little Nassau, Brooklyn, NY, organized by Liam Neff
Never Enough: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Vegetal Passion, Royal Garden 5, online -
2013
What we did the following year, Ritter/Zamet, London, curated by Christabel Stewart
ANAMERICANA, DEPART Foundation @ American Academy in Rome, curated by Vincenzo de Bellis
Ground Control to Major Tom, Cookie Butcher, Antwerp
‘Pataphysics, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
PIZZA TIME!, Marlborough Broome St, New York
Something About a Tree, FLAG Foundation, New York, curated by Linda Yablonsky
Mixed Media Message, Gladstone Gallery, New York, curated by Neville Wakefield
Antigrazioso, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, curated by Luca lo Pinto
Jew York, Untitled, New York
They might well have been remnants of the boat, Calder Foundation, New York
Empire State, Palazzo delle Espozioni, Rome; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris; curated by Alex Gartenfeld and Sir Norman Rosenthal
This is THIS, Zach Feuer, New York, organized by Isaac Brest
Air de Pied-a-terre, Lisa Cooley, New York, curated by Lisa Cooley and Alan Reid -
2012
Funny, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, curated by Heidi Zuckerman Jacobsen
Inside the Banana, Algus Greenspon, New York
Creature From the Blue Lagoon, Martos Gallery, Bridgehampton, organized by Bob Nickas
Untitled (Tea Party), Klosterfelde, Berlin
Home Again, Again, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn
Oh you mean cellophane and all that crap, Calder Foundation, New York
Kathryn Andrews, Darren Bader, Karl Haendel, United Artists Ltd., Marfa
Ten Ten, Jason Alexander, New York
D’Après Giorgio, Casa-Museo Giorgio de Chirico, Rome, curated by Luca Lo Pinto
Blind Cut, Marlborough Gallery, New York, curated by Vera Neykov and Jonah Freeman -
2011
Foot To Foot, Regina Gallery, London, curated by Margaret Lee
Art Public, Art Basel: Miami Beach, curated by Christine Y. Kim
The Color of Company, Abrons Art Center, New York, curated by David Everitt Howe
Histoires de votre vie, Office Baroque, Antwerp
Modify, As Needed, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, curated by Ruba Katrib
Touchy Feely, Human Resources, Los Angeles, curated by Peter Harkawik
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials – typically stone such as marble – or metal, glass, or wood. Softer (“plastic”) materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals, Johann König Gallery, Berlin
Untitled group show, Untitled Gallery, New York
Broken Umbrellas, Laurel Gitlen, New York, organized by Christopher Aque
On Forgery, LAXART, Los Angeles, curated by Andrew Berardini and Lesley Moon -
2010
Looking Back / The Fifth White Columns Annual, White Columns, New York, curated by Bob Nickas
Which Witch is Which and/or Summertime, White Flag Projects, St. Louis, curated by Ajay Kurian
Salad Days, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, New Yok
Greater New York, PS1 Center for Contemporary Art, New York
Support Group, Cottage Home, Los Angeles, under the auspices of Mateo Tannatt
Group Show: Katie Aliprando, Darren Bader, Matias Faldbakken, Mateo Tannatt, 2nd, Cannons, Los Angeles
The hoax is a hoax or may or may not be again, Galerie Carlos Cardenas, Paris
And So On…, And So On…, And So On…, Harris Lieberman Gallery, New York, curated by Matt Sheridan Smith
with Margaret Lee and Michele Abeles, White Columns, New York -
2009
Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market, Tate Modern, London
Performa 09, New York (Cancelled)
Cave Gallery, Detroit, curated by Michael E. Smith
Don’t Perish, Leo Koenig Inc., Projeckte, New York, curated by Jesse Willenbring and Joe Montgomery
To the Left of The Rising Sun, Small A Projects Upstate, Greenwich, NY
Time–Life Part II (Odeon), Taxter & Spengemann, New York, with Ara Dymond and Uri Aran
FAX, The Drawing Center, New York
Odeon, Ritter/Zamet, London, with Ara Dymond and Uri Aran
After Image, Peggy Tan & Antonio Serna’s Space
Taki Ishii Gallery, Armory Show Booth, New York
On From Here, Guild & Greyshkul, New York
Boofthle Booth – Booth : Deux Doox – Hollywood Biennial, Pauline Gallery, Los Angeles
Unfiction, Illinois State University Galleries, curated by Bill Conger -
2008
8 ½ x 11 / A4, James Fuentes LLC
The World is All That is The Case, Hudson Franklin, New York, curated by Arthur Ou
Singular Friends: heaving up on one another’s shoulders, Gresham’s Ghost, New York,
organized by Ajay Kurian
To Illustrate and Multiply: An Open Book, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, organized by Lynda Bunting and Lisa Mark
Object Salon, White Space Gallery, London, curated by Emily Speers Mears, et.
Al Iconic Boston BBQ, LaMontagne Gallery, Boston, curated by Jesse Willenbring and Laurel Gitlen
Fair Market, Rental Gallery, New York, curated by Haley Mellin
Abandoned Plot, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Andy Meerow
PRUESSPRESS @ Rental, Rental Gallery, New York
Gaping Hole Found in Universe, Daniel Hug, Los Angeles
Boofthle, Pauline Gallery, Los Angeles -
2007
Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market, Frieze Art Fair, London
No Context, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo
Overbite/ Underbite, Ritter/Zamet, London -
2006
More Songs About Buildings and Food: A Recipe For Downtown, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, organized by Adam Kleinman
GRUPE, GBE@Passerby, New York; Mandrake, Los Angeles, curated by Bonito Bachs
Goodbye To All That, Rivington Arms, New York -
2005
The Pumpkin Show, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York
Put It In Your Mouth / I’ll see you on the dark side of the prune, Rivington Arms, New York -
2004
Word of Mouth, Dinter Fine Art, New York
Do Something, Floating IP, Manchester -
2003
Study, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, curated by Ian Rosen
Mad Little, Mad Little Gallery, New York, curated by David Greenberg
Emergence, Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, curated by Cara Baldwin -
2000
Amok Festival of Experimental Film and Video, Brooklyn