Biography

Bridget Baker was born in 1971 in East London, South Africa. She currently lives and works in East London, UK.

Baker received her BA Honors in Fine Art in 1995 from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa where she was awarded both the Maggie Laubser bursary and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) bursary.

In 1997 she graduated with an MA Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa with the Irma Stern Scholarship 1996-7 and another Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) bursary for 1996-7.

Recent awards have included an Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) from the Department of Arts and Culture, Republic of South Africa in 2015 and Arts and Culture Trust (ACT) for funding and development in 2014.

Baker was a resident at the American School in Rome in 2015, and Nosadella.due, Bologna in 2001, 2012 and 2014. In 2008 she participated in the Fountainhead program Miami, USA. She is involved in numerous film festivals and screenings internationally including; Lost in the Waves, a programme of Analogue Eye screenings at the International Schillertage Festival in Mannheim, Germany (2015); Evidence, Derby Film Festival, UK (2015) and The Film Will Always Be With Us, a three day screening of South African artist films at Tate Modern (2015). Other participations includes Possessions, ESPACE KHIASMA, Paris, France (2013); Found Footage Festival, Bologna, Italy (2011); Glasgow Short Film Festival, Scotland (2011); International Competition, 57th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany (2011); Home Sweet Home, Homebase Project, Berlin, (2010) and Berwick Film and Media Festival, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK (2010).

Solo presentations include A temporary admission, The National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa, curated by Storm Janse van Rensburg (2014); The Remains of the Father – Fragments of a Trilogy (Transhumance), curated by Elisa del Prete, Museo Casa Cavazzini, Udine, Italy (2014) and Wrecking at Private Siding 661, Christian Ferreira at the Wapping Project, London, UK (2011).

Other recent group exhibitions include: Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK (2015); Between the Idea and the Experience, 12th Havana Biennale, Cuba (2015); Nero su Bianco, American Academy in Rome (2015); Sightings, KZNSA, Durban, South Africa (2015) and Les Recontres Internationales, Palais de Tokyo and Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, France (2014).

Baker is present in various publications and has had solo exhibition catalogues published on the occasion of A temporary admission at The National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa (2014) edited by Storm Janse van Rensburg, for her solo show at Centro de Arte Contemporanea in Burgos, Spain (2009) and for BRIDGET BAKER, but being a sensible woman, she subdued her terrors and turned over and went to sleep again, at João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town (2006).

Education

1995

BA Honors Fine Art, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2014

A temporary admission, The National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa. (C)

2013

The Remains of the Father - Fragments of a Trilogy, Museo Casa Cavazzini, Udine, Italy.

2012

The Remains of the Father - Fragments of a Trilogy, MAMbo, Bologna, Italy.

Steglitz House, Galerie GUM, Bielefeld, Germany.

2011

Wrecking at Private Siding 661, Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, Wapping Project, London, UK.

2009

Recent Work, Centro des Artes Contemporânea, Burgos, Spain. (C)

2008

But we look so good in our uniforms, Diet Gallery, Miami, USA.

2007

Bridget Baker, Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

2006

But being a sensible woman, she subdued her terrors and turned over and went to sleep again, Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. (C)

2001

Official BB Project University, Stellenbosch Art Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

2000

As if you’ve never seen it before, Artists Unlimited Gallery, Bielefeld, Germany.

1997

Bridget Baker BAFA,The Hänel Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

1996

The Shrill sound of a telephone at 3 am, The Planet Contemporary Art Site, Cape Town, South Africa.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2015

Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

Between the Idea and the Experience, 12th Havana Biennale, Cuba.

Lost in the Waves, The International Schillertage Festival, Mannheim, Germany.

The Film Will Always Be With Us, Tate Modern's Starr Auditorium, London, UK.

Nero su Bianco, American Academy, Rome, Italy. (C)

Evidence, Derby Film Festival, Derby, UK.

Sightings, KZNSA, Glenwood, Durban Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

2014

Presente Imperfetto, Casa della Memoria e della Storia, Rome, Italy.

Brave New World … 20 Years of Democracy, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Les Recontres Internationales, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany.

Les Recontres Internationales, Palais de Tokyo and Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, France.

2013

Act 1: Aerolithe Illusion, Goethe on Main, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Mine, Espace Khiasma, Paris, France.

Mine, Migrations Culturelles, Aquitaine Afriques, Bordeaux, France.

2012

Subject as Matter, The New Church, Cape Town, South Africa.

10th edition of the Gender Bender Festival, Bologna, Italy.

Dak’Art, Dakar, Senegal.

Mine, DUCTAC, Dubai, UAE and University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa.

Found Footage Festival, Bologna, Italy.

2011

A Natural Selection: 1991-2011 Part 2, Association for the Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa.

International Competition, 57th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany.

Lens: fractions of contemporary photography and video, Sasol Art Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Glasgow Short Film Festival, The Magic Lantern, Glasgow, Scotland.

Mine, Iwalewa-House, Afrikazentrum der Universität Bayreuth, Germany.

2010

Mine at Iwalewa-House, Afrikazentrum der Universität Bayreuth, Germany.

Visions in the Nunnery, The Nunnery Gallery, The Bow Arts Trust, London, UK.

Home Sweet Home, Homebase Project, Berlin, Germany.

Berwick Film and Media Festival, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK.

Shifting Realities, Halle Zehn, Cologne, Germany.

US, The South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

South Africa, Bergen, Norway and ISIS ARTS, Newcastle on Tyne, UK.

South African Video Art, D21 Kunstraum, Leipzig, Germany.

2009

Dada South?, The South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

US, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Intimate Distance, The South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Sing into my Mouth, Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, South Africa.

2008

za. Giovane arte dal Sud Africa, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy. (C)

Contemporary Art Photography from South Africa, SANG Iziko Museum, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

2007

Uniform, The Spanierman Contemporary, New York, USA.

Zeitgenössische Fotokunst Aus Südafrika / Contemporary Art Photography from South Africa and Germany, Neue Berliner Kunstverein; Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen and Museum Bochum, Berlin, Germany.

2006

Women: Photography and New Media, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

But being a sensible woman, she subdued her terrors and turned over and went to sleep again, KZNSA Gallery, Durban, South Africa. (C)

Tour, Galerie Hilger Contemporarie, Vienna, Austria.

Second to None, The South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Warande, Turnhout, Belgium.

2005

Official BB Mittens Project, Artists Unlimited Gallery, Hochbunker, Bielefeld, Germany.

Official BB Project, Klein Karoo Kunstefees, Little Karoo Art Festival, Oudtshoorn, South Africa.

GNO, Joao Ferreira Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa.

2004

Contra Mundi, The Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa.

Glasgow Short Film Festival, The Magic Lantern, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.

Decade of Democracy, The National Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

2003

Official BB Mittens Project, Gallery Puta, Greenpoint, Cape Town, South Africa.

2002

Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Buzzards, Klein Karoo Kunstefees / Little Karoo Art Festival, Oudstoorn, South Africa.

2001

Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Iris & B.Gerald Cantor Centre for Visual Arts, Stanford University, California, USA.

2000

Holland South Africa Line, The Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, South Africa and Baggagehal, Loods 6, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas, USA.

Total Global, Contemporary Art Museum, Basel, Switzerland.

1999

Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Museum for African Art, New York, USA.

Softserve, The National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Oos Wes, Tuis Bes, Klein Karoo Kunstefees / Little Karoo Arts Festival, Oudsthoorn, South Africa.

Channel, The Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa.

Unplugged IV, The Rembrandt Van Rijn Gallery, Newtown Precinct, Johannesburg, South Africa.

1998

Graft, 2nd Johannesburg Biennale The South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

1997

Unplugged II, The Rembrandt Van Rijn Gallery, Newtown Precinct, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lifetimes: Art from Southern Africa, Aktionsforum, Paterinsel, Munich, Germany.

1996

3x10, The Hänel Gallery, Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, South Africa.

Screenings

2015

12th Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba.

Lost in the Waves, Analogue Eye, International Schillertage Festival, Mannheim, Germany.

Evidence, Derby Film Festival, UK.

The Film Will Always Be You, Tate Modern’s Starr Auditorium, London, UK.

Winter Event – antifreeze, Flora ars+natura, Bogotá, Colombia.

U/Tropia, Festwochen Zentrum, Kunstlerhaus, Plastikersaal, Vienna, Austria.

2014

Presente Imperfetto - Colonial Heritage and Contemporary Racialized Visions, Routes Agency, Casa della Memoria e della Storia, Rome, Italy.

2013

Mine, Possessions, Espace Khiasma, Paris, France.

Mine, MC2a – Migrations Culturelles, Aquitaine Afriques, Bordeaux, France.

2010

Visions in the Nunnery, The Nunnery Gallery, The Bow Arts Trust, London, UK.

Home Sweet Home, Werkstatt der Kulturen, Berlin, Germany.

South Africa 2010, Video Screening: Gallery 3,14 Bergen and No Isis Arts, Newcastle on Tyne, UK.

Monographs

2014

Baker, Bridget and Janse van Rensburg, Storm (eds), BRIDGET BAKER, A Temporary Admission: a reader, London, UK, 2014. (C)

2009

Bridget Baker, Centro de Arte Contemporanea, Burgos, Spain, 2009. (C)

2006

BRIDGET BAKER, but being a sensible woman, she subdued her terrors and turned over and went to sleep again, João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, 2006. (C)

Publications

2011

Williamson, Sue (ed.), South African Art Now, HarperCollins Design, London, UK 2011.

2009

Williamson, Sue (ed.), South African Art Now, HarperCollins Design, London, UK 2009.

2008

Fusi, Lorenzo (ed.), .ZA, Giovane arte dal Sudafrica, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy, 2008. (C)

2007

Tolnay, Alexander (ed.), Zeitgenössische Fotokunst aus Südafrika, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein / Edition Braus im Wachter Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg, 2007.

2004

Perryer, Sophie (ed.), 10 YEARS 100 ARTISTS, art in a democratic South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa, 2004.

2003

Smith, Gregg (ed.), Very Real Time, Drukkerij de Keure, Brugges, Belgium, 2003.

2002

Burger, Lucia, Smith, Kathryn and van den Berg, Clive (eds.), Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), Oudshoorn, South Africa, 2002. (C)

1999

D’Amat, Mark, Herreman, Frank (eds.), Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, Prestel, New York, USA, 1999.

1997

Bester, Rory, Debord, Matthew and Enwezor, Okwui (eds.), Trade Routes: History and Geography: 2nd Johannesburg Biennale, Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council and Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, 1997. (C)

Meyer, Renate, Soudien, Crain (eds.), The District Six public sculpture project, South Africa, 1997. (C)

1996

Jamal, Ashraf, Williamson, Sue (eds.), Art in South Africa: The Future Present, David Philip Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa, 1996.

Residencies

2015

American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy.

2014

Associazione Isole, Palermo and Lampedusa, Italy.

Nomas Foundation, Rome, Italy.

Nosadella.due, Bologna, Italy.

2012

Nosadella.due, Bologna, Italy.

2011

Nosadella.due, Bologna, Italy.

Willums Art Foundation and Myriam Blundell Projects, Mas des Graviers, Pourrieres, France.

2008

Fountainhead, Miami, USA.

2006

CRIC, Centre de reflexion sur l’image et ses contextes, Sierre, Switzerland.

2004

Vooruit Art Centre, Gent, Belgium.

2003

Very Real Time, Cape Town, South Africa.

2000

Holland South Africa Line, Cape Town, South Africa.

Holland South Africa Line, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Artists Unlimited Gallery, Bielefeld, Germany.

Biography & Press

2012

Dodd Alexander, Law-Viljoen Bronwyn, Art South Africa Magazine, Vol 10, Vlaeberg, Cape Town, South Africa, 2012.

Brenda Schmahmann, Developing Images of Self: Childhood, Youth and Family Photographs in Works by Three South African Women article, African Arts, vol. 45, no. 4, 2012.

2007

Kathryn Smith, Do South Africans Really Exist, Artist Profile Magazine, Sydney, Australia, 2007.

2006

Ernest Beck, Wish You Were Here, Art & Auction, vol. XXIX, no.10, June 2006.

Sidonio Costa, Liste 2006, International Magazine of Contemporary Latin American Art, issue 115, 2006.

Sean O’Toole, Art South Africa Vol 4, Vlaeberg, Cape Town, South Africa, 2006.

2004

Greg Smith (ed), Very Real Time, designed by Sara de Bondt, printed by de Keure, Brugge, Belgium, 2004.

2001

Barbara Pollack, The Newest Avant-Garde, ARTnews, 2001.

Andrés Mario Zervigón, The Weave of Memory: Siemon Allen’s ‘Screen’ in Postapartheid South Africa, Art Journal, 2001.

Awards

2015

South African Department of Arts and Culture Golden Mzansi Economy.

2014

South African Arts and Culture Trust.

2011/2012

South African National Arts Council.

1999

South African Department of Trade and Industry grant.

1996/1997

Irma Stern Scholarship from University of Cape Town.

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) bursary.

1995

Maggie Laubser bursary from Stellenbosch University.

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) bursary.

Collections

Artlogic, South Africa.

Billiton Board, South Africa.

Branson, London, UK.

CAB, Centro de Artes Contemporânea de Burgos, Spain.

Charles Bothner and Marianne Fassler, South Africa.

Clearwater, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ellerman House, South Africa.

Galerie GUM, Bielefeld, Germany.

Graaff, South Africa.

Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria.

Inhouse Brand, South Africa.

Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa.

Ketterer, London, UK.

Lötschentaler Museum, Kippel, Valais, Switzerland.

MAMbo, Bologna, Italy.

Maria Ramos and Trevor Manuel, South Africa.

Old Mutual, South Africa.

Hans Porer, Switzerland.

Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa.

Richard and Ruth Shack, University of Miami Special Collections, Miami, USA.

South African National Gallery, South Africa.

David Green, UK.

Standard Bank of South Africa, South Africa.

Starkmann, London, UK.

Suburban Films, South Africa.

Piet Viljoen, South Africa.

UNISA, University of South Africa, South Africa.

Whitman, Dallas, USA.