CHARMING BAKER SHOOTS HIS PAINTINGS – EXHIBITION IN JULY
aaamusic | On 23, May 2011
INTRODUCING THE UK’S FASTEST RISING ART STAR YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF – EXHIBITION FROM 7TH – 13TH JULY 2011 AT THE MERCER STREET STUDIOS, COVENT GARDEN
Little-known painter Charming Baker has the world’s heavyweight art collectors queuing up to buy his work.
Charming Baker is one of the UK’s fastest rising artists, selling his paintings for tens of thousands of pounds to some of the world’s biggest collectors. He has been tipped for greatness by the BBC, the Daily Telegraph and GQ magazine.
He was recently signed up by designer Sir Paul Smith as global ambassador for his Paul Smith London collection.
Yet the artist doesn’t work with a gallery and is little known in the art world circles. He self-funds his shows and promotes himself via social network sites, internet forums and specialist sites such as YouTube where a video of Charming shooting his paintings with a shotgun has become cult viewing.
Charming was discovered five years ago selling work from the bedroom of his South London council flat. He was persuaded to put on a pop up show at the Truman Brewery in East London, which sold out on the opening night. He has since had successful shows in London, Los Angeles and New York and has been taken under the wing of music manager Pat Magnarella, the man behind rock giants Green Day.
The partnership with Magnarella culminated in a hugely successful show in New York last year which was bought out before it even opened by some of the artworld’s biggest collectors (including Damien Hirst, Frank Cohen, Harry Blain, Aby Rosen and Alberto Mugrabi).
Charming has been invited to return to New York in 2012 to show at the prestigious Lever House where previous exhibitors include Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Keith Haring.
Says Damien Hirst of Charming’s work: “It’s hard to say what makes a painting great. Its flatness and its depth, its ease and its complexity, a kind of preciousness that’s also kind of throwaway, a risk factor. Who gives a damn? Charming Baker’s paintings are great.”
Charming Baker’s next show will be in London at the Mercer Street Studios in Covent Garden from 7th-31st July 2011.
For more information visit www.charmingbaker.com
Charming Baker Biography
The son of a British Commando, Charming Baker grew up in army camps around the world, finally settling in Ripon in Yorkshire. He left school at 15 to dig roads and at 21 he was accepted at Central St Martins where he later returned as a lecturer.
A father of five, Charming took commercial work to make ends meet, and spent the evenings painting in his flat. He ignored the traditional gallery system, choosing to sell his work independently.
Says Charming, now 47: “When I left college I was courted by the art establishment but at the time I felt like I didn’t fit in. Operating outside of that world has actually allowed me to develop into what I am now.”
Three years ago Amnesty International commissioned Charming to show alongside Tracey Emin, the Chapman Brothers and Sir Peter Blake at the Blank Canvas project. After Charming’s 2008 show in LA, Green Day manager Pat Magnarella flew to London to offer the artist a management deal. Charming continues work with Magnarella outside the regular gallery system.
“I have had some approaches from some big name galleries and it’s really flattering,” says Charming. “I’m still not ready to make that move yet. I’m free to go and show wherever I want, whenever I want. That may not work for some artists, but it works for me.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8089942.stm
