NADA Miami 2022

Wendell Gladstone‘s surreal figurative paintings evoke dream-like spaces free from the logic that governs daily life. His otherworldly scenes interrogate the hierarchical struggle among a cast of characters as they cycle through chronicles of rapture, unrest, and revolt. Looking to historical European satirical cartoons, Aztec stone carvings and medieval facades, his paintings survey the boundless energy of the human psyche.

With a bright, often candy-colored palette layered with transparent gel mediums that subtly reveal the forms beneath, his evocative works immediately seduce the viewer and only later reveal psychologically charged subtexts. He uses allegory and metaphor to examine a wide swath of cultural references—from art history to contemporary politics and personal experience—and allows his subconscious to guide the narratives.

Wendell Gladstone (b. 1972, Boston, MA; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received his BA at Brown University, an MFA in Painting at Claremont Graduate University, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He has exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions, including at Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA; Kravets/Wehby, New York, NY; and Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles. CA;, and, in 2003, at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art. Select museum group exhibitions include the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV; the Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY; the Kemper Museum, Kansas City, MO; and the San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX.

His works have been written about by Artforum, Art in America, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Artsy, Artnet, Installation Magazine, Elephant, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, and WhiteWall. Gladstone has a forthcoming solo exhibition at Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles in July 2023.