Artist Talk

Friday, January 23, 2026

Please join us for an artist talk with Daren Bader and Darren Bader at 5:30pm. An opening reception will take place after the artist talk.

People sometimes have the same name. As an imperfect example of this phenomenon, this upcoming exhibition will pair two Baders: Daren and Darren. The two have never met in person but have been in contact—on and off—since 2013. Both have intimate relationships to San Diego and art making. This exhibition will bring about their first in-person meeting and a co-curated confluence of contrasting approaches to crafting art.

Daren Bader born in Monterey County, California, in 1966, has been a concept artist and art director for the video game and entertainment industry for 30 years, working with a large variety of companies, including Disney, Nintendo, Capcom, Rockstar Games, and Magic Leap. He is best known as the Art Director on the critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption franchise. Currently, Daren is the Art Director for Secret Door Games, which recently released its first game Sunderfolk to much critical acclaim.

On the weekends, Daren is a freelance illustrator for various trading card games, such as Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft, amassing well over 200 cards in the field. He has also designed the occasional book cover, including a series of covers for fan-favorite authors R.A. Salvatore and Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.

Daren's work can be seen in 15 of the 22 Spectrum Fantastic Art annuals, as well as in his monographs The Art of Daren Bader and one hundred drawings. The summer of 2015 saw the release of his 60-page, fully painted graphic novel Tribes of Kai from Flesk Publications. His work was recently acquired by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. Daren lives in Encinitas, California.

Darren Bader was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1978. Two years later his family moved to Mission Hills in San Diego. His first memories are of/in San Diego; a year after those memories, his sister was born there. His family moved back to Connecticut in 1983 for public schooling and free childcare (grandparents). Darren now lives in New York.

In 2004, thanks to a pre-ad Google search, Darren learned there was another Dar(r)en Bader. A decade later, via Facebook, he reached out to Daren—whom he was elated and relieved to learn was already aware of him—with a stupidly ambitious proposal for collaboration. Seven years later, he reached out again in hope of a less ambitious collaboration, but various obstacles presented themselves. After another fallow period, Darren realized that San Diego might not just be a chance confluence, but a means to a much-desired end—i.e., the meeting in real space of two artists who share a name—the redundant “r” being a formality/aberration/nuisance. 

Between 2004 and 2025, Darren Bader built an unlikely career in the visual arts. Having no technical aptitude, he somehow managed to employ his arguable facility with written language toward the ultimate purpose of engaging with the rigors and vagaries of art historical logics. Some in the contemporary art field/milieu consider him to be a hack/charlatan/nuisance; others consider him a useful voice. All he cares about at the moment (apart from being a passable parent) is doing right by Daren Bader. 

Darren Bader’s work is included in the collections of Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles; Zabludowicz Collection, London; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; Fondazione Prada, Milan; and Chicago Booth School of Business Art Collection, Chicago.

JOAN & IRWIN JACOBS
MUSIC ROOM
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street
La Jolla, CA 92037

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

ARTIST TALK BEGINS AT 5:30 PM.
OPENING RECEPTION FROM 5:30–7:30 PM.

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS:
Free for all guests