Charming Baker is a London-based British artist known for his paintings that explore themes of joy, fear, mortality and the fleeting nature of childhood innocence. A sense of dark humour often infiltrates his work, deliberately creating a sense of disharmony that unsettles the viewer.
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Charming Baker spent his early life travelling the world with his family whilst his father was a Commander in the British Army. After leaving school at 16 and working in a variety of manual jobs, he was accepted into Central St Martin’s where he completed his degree. He then pursued a career as a graphic designer and illustrator working for the likes of The Daily Telegraph and the BBC. He was invited to participate in an exhibition on Brick Lane in 2006 and his artistic career was born. Since then, Charming Baker has participated in a variety of solo exhibitions across the years at galleries such as the Truman Brewery in London, the New York Studio Gallery, Milk Studios in LA, 2013, and the Soho Beach House in Miami. In 2012, Charming Baker collaborated with designer Paul Smith on a sculpture for the Olympic Games entitled Triumph in the Face of Absurdity, which was displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Charming Baker is sometimes known to destroy parts of his canvas by cutting, drilling and shooting his works. We love how Charming Baker challenges traditional notions of art and the definition of beauty, whilst also rejecting the idea that art can only have a singular subject. Charming Baker claims “Nothing is only ever one thing. I don’t see why I shouldn’t bend or break an image to alter its original meaning, if only at least to entertain.”
