Charming Baker (UK)
Charming Baker paints beautifully in oil. His pictures are deftly-decanted concoctions of familiarity and unease. “I like it when something’s not quite right,” he explains. “I like to take people along a path which leads to a place they don’t expect to be. They might discover a personal or political subtext, they might simply enjoy the view. The effect I’m aiming for in my work is that slightly unnerving feeling you get when you have your arse patted in public, but you're not exactly sure who's patting it.”
Charming was raised in army camps around the world, finally settling in Yorkshire in the north of England. He studied and then taught at the prestigious Central St Martins College of Art in London, where he now lives. His influences include cheap books, heroes, Zulus, odd looking women, suburbia, tea and the smell of cheap perfume.
Charming has exhibited – and had his arse patted – in London, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
