Charming Baker

Charming Baker (b. 1964) is a British contemporary artist whose distinctive practice combines painting, drawing and sculpture with dark humour, narrative and a strong sense of emotional tension. Born in Hampshire, Baker spent much of his childhood travelling with his father, a Commando in the British Army, before settling in Ripon, North Yorkshire. He later studied at Central Saint Martins, where he also returned as a lecturer.

Primarily a painter, Baker’s work explores enduring themes of life, love, death, fear and joy, often drawing on classical art and literature while introducing wit and unexpected visual interventions. His paintings are characterised by a distinctive tension between beauty and disruption. Baker is particularly known for deliberately drilling, cutting and occasionally shooting his finished works, challenging traditional ideas around the preciousness of art and the boundaries of beauty.

Baker has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, with solo exhibitions in London, New York, Los Angeles and Miami, including presentations at Sotheby’s S|2 and The Vinyl Factory. In 2012, his sculpture Triumph in the Face of Absurdity, created in collaboration with Sir Paul Smith, was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

His work is held in international private collections and has been featured by major galleries and auction houses, including Phillips. Baker continues to live and work in London, maintaining a distinctive position within contemporary British art.