Provenance
Office Baroque, Brussels
Exhibited
Brussels, Office Baroque, DANGLING MAN: JULIEN BISMUTH, JOE BRADLEY, JEF GEYS, SEAN LYNCH, October 26 - December 1, 2007
Catalogue Essay
The present lot, Nude (Bust), 2007, depicts the primitive upper chest and head of a figure rendered in blush pink vinyl. Joe Bradley’s monochromatic panels, in title, reference the history of painting the female nude. By paring down the human form into 2 quadrilateral elements, Bradley has intentionally eliminated the most seductive component identified with the history of the female nude: the female gaze. This seductive femininity has instead been replaced by Bradley’s choice of color: a pale pink, the color of soft shapely flesh. Furthermore, slick vinyl reconstitutes the historical medium of malleable oil paint, the vinyl having been aptly stretched to create a taut, glossy surface. Bradley resolves his choice of vinyl, stating: “I could never really get the right surface on canvas. And I think I wanted a surface that has no brush stroke. ..I really wanted them to kind of read as objects; I didn’t want whoever was looking at it to be distracted by the hand in there.” The modular, graphic form of Bradley’s robot paintings is seen in the present lot, which alludes to the flat figures of 80’s video games and the shaped colorful canvases produced by the Colorfield, minimalist painters such as Ellsworth Kelly. As a whole, Nude (Bust), 2007 at once encompasses a study in the history of art, exploring the boundaries of Minimalism through disembodied figuration.

24

Joe Bradley

Nude (Bust)

2007
stretched vinyl over canvas, in 2 parts
overall 62 x 60 in. (157.5 x 152.4 cm)
Signed, titled and dated "NUDE (BUST) Joe Bradley 07" along the stretcher bar of the lower element, and again along the overlap of the upper element.

Estimate
$300,000 - 500,000

Sold for $221,000

Contact Specialist
Rebekah Bowling
Head of Sale
New York
+ 1 212 940 1250

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New York Auction 17 September 2015