Malado Baldwin Premieres At Gawker, A Collaboration Of Art And New Media

Last Thursday at Gawker Headquarters, Malado Baldwin smiled for photographs and accepted congratulations from friends and fans. The occasion? Her Opening Reception of “Timeless, Placeless,” a collection of fifteen paintings now on display at the snark central, which now moonlights as a gallery space for emerging artists.

Guests, among them artist Shinto Imai, musician Jahphet Landis, art critic David Cohen, Hrag Vartanian, and Anna Fish, roamed among the vacant desks, beer or glass of wine in hand, admiring the series of dreamscapes by Ms. Baldwin, which were inspired by her worldwide travels. African terrain swirled with Roman mosaics, Chinese landscapes, and Italian frescoes, a beautiful, psychedelic blending of real and imagined places.  Afterward, some guests ducked outside for a breath of fresh air, admiring the nighttime canvas of the New York skyline from Gawker’s spacious rooftop patio.

“I want to make paintings that speak to people on a deeper level,” Ms. Baldwin said in an interview with The Greenpoint Gazette. “I want them to resonate good energy in peoples’ homes.”

And her art will continue to impart good energy to the folks at Gawker through March, when, presumably, another artist will have her turn at the space. As it turns out, Malado Baldwin is part of the Gawker Artists program, a collective of 1,666 artists of every medium who receive free exposure through Gawker Media.

Curator Liz Dimmitt founded the program in 2006 when Gawker decided to replace advertising networks with artwork in their remnant ad space, such as Ms. Baldwin's piece pictured to the left.  Gawker Artists serves a dual purpose, offering artists a means of displaying their works on a high-traffic site, while providing readers a bit of zen in the oft-chaotic stream of online news.

At first the program was exclusively online, but over the years, Gawker Artists has expanded to include real world exhibitions and art events.  Many of these, like Malado Baldwin's, are located inside Gawker offices.  But others, such as MOM & POPism and Purora, have been installed outdoors, directly on the rooftop. And the program is always looking for future event collaborations with artists as well as advertisers and websites that wish to feature art from its sizable database.

Interested in submitting work for an artful alliance with Gawker Artists, either online or in the office?  Go HERE.  And for more information on Malado Baldwin, go HERE.

[Shinto Imai, Malado Baldwin, Jahphet Landis, Anna Fish]

[Photos courtesy of Gawker Artists]