Described by Dave Hickey as “the thinking man’s Mod,” Tim Bavington first became known for works that combined the hard-edged attitude of sixties abstraction with the feel of records like the Who’s Quadrophrenia. Bavington’s canvases, replete with bands of airbrushed stripes derived from the notes of power rock guitar solos, were described by Hickey as “neon in the mist,” a softer version of the bright lights of Vegas (the city in which the British-born Bavington lives and works).
The artist’s third exhibition at Mark Moore Gallery will feature several large scale works from Bavington’s new ’stacked’ series. It will also include pieces from his new ’amplifier’ series, in which bands of airbrushed stripes play off large monochromatic panels. Writing about Bavington’s 2002 exhibition at Mark Moore Gallery, critic Christopher Miles comments that Bavington works like a visual bartender, making visual ’suicide drinks’ of the sort “served by someone who understands indulgence.” Mixing premeditation and impulse, Bavington’s airbrushed paintings conjoin the calculated restraint of hard-edge with the unabashed expression of Ab-Ex; on a visual backbeat of color, Bavington riffs and grooves in inspired moments, hitting high notes, bringing out the depth and nuance of his abstract compositions.
Tim Bavington’s work has been included in such exhibitions as Ultralounge, curated by Dave Hickey, American Talent, curated by David Pagel in Frankfurt, Neo Painting: New Art in America, at the Young-Un Contemporary Art Museum in Korea, New in Town, at the Portland Museum curated by Bruce Guenther and The Magic Hour: Dir Konvergenz von Kunst Und Las Vegas, curated by Alex Farquharson at the Neue Gallery in Graz, Austria.