R.C. BAKER

January 11, 2023

Lives and works in Bronx, New York

ARTIST BIO

R.C. Baker (born 1960) is an artist and writer based in New York. He was born in St. Albans, Vermont, and earned a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Known for his conceptual and multimedia artwork, as well as his long career as an art critic for the Village Voice, his work combines painting, collage, digital prints, and text to create intricate narratives inspired by modern history, particularly the turbulent mid-20th century. Baker’s work explores the connection between language and imagery, examining how words convey meaning when paired with visual elements. His approach reflects multimedia and conceptual practices, emphasizing the exchange of ideas, processes, and historical references.

R.C. Baker’s commission work includes creating paintings and drawings for Ang Lee’s “The Wedding Banquet,” the 1994 Oscar-nominated foreign film. He was also a commentator for the Ovation channel documentary “Jeff Koons: Made in Heaven.” He paneled at the National Academy Museum and School of the Fine Arts’ review of the Whitney Biennial in New York, gave a talk at Bulgaria’s National Gallery of Art in Sofia, and lectured at the 23rd Summer Festival in Bol, Croatia. The Brooklyn Rail, The Village Voice, and many other publications have reviewed his exhibitions. He has shown work at Zone: Contemporary Art, the Drawing Center, White Columns, the Center for Book Arts, and other venues in New York, as well as in Seoul. His writings have appeared on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times, in exhibition catalogs, and in other publications. He has received Arts Writers Grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and a Painting Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. He currently holds an adjunct professorship in the MFA Studio Art program at New York University Steinhardt. He is represented by Jennifer Baahng Gallery.