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About

Daniel
Baker

artist, theorist, and curator, London

Daniel Baker (born 1961) is an artist, curator, researcher, and activist. He holds a PhD from the Royal College of Art, London; the title of his dissertation is Gypsy Visuality: Gell’s Art Nexus and its potential for artists (2011). Baker’s artistic practice examines the role of art in enacting social agency through performance, installation, painting, and digital media. Previously he chaired the Gypsy Council from 2006 to 2009. Recent exhibitions include: Expansive Mood, Mansion House, London, 2011; Sovereign European Art Prize, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2010; Suspect, Galerie Feinkost, Berlin, 2009; and Paradise Lost: The First Roma Pavilion, 52nd Venice Biennale, Venice, 2007. Baker also acted as a consultant on the project Call the Witness, 2nd Roma Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, 2011, and participated in the exhibition of the same title. Together with Paul Ryan, he curated the exhibition No Gorgios, Novas Gallery, London, 2007. Publications include: Ex Libris (2009). His work can be found in collections across Europe, America, and Asia. Baker lives and works in London.

During his stay at BAK Baker continues his research into the concept of a Roma aesthetic. By integrating varied methods of inquiry including writing and artistic practice, he investigates themes of authenticity and authorship, focusing primarily on the possibility for objects to challenge notions of their assumed histories and origins. This project examines the complex relations between artifacts, their makers, and their audiences in order to consider how artistic practice can be used to rethink social relations.

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