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Alex Baker, Curator of Contemporary Art, joined
the Academy in 2001. Focusing on the expansion
of the Academy's increasingly popular
contemporary art program, Baker devotes his time
to growing this vital component of the Academy's
mission - promoting and exhibiting the work of
living American artists of regional and national
distinction.
Installations curated by Baker have included the
first solo museum exhibition by New York
self-taught artist Phil Frost, and a
three-dimensional floor-to-ceiling collage of
paper cut-outs by artist Astrid Bowlby. Baker's
exhibitions surprise and delight visitors,
transforming the downstairs Morris Gallery into
an often-unrecognizable space.
Baker recently received his Ph.D. in Visual
Anthropology from Temple University. Prior to
his arrival at the Pennsylvania Academy, Baker
worked as Associate Curator at the Institute of
Contemporary Art (ICA), curating several
exhibitions of note, including Indelible Market:
Barry McGee, Stephen Powers, and Todd James,
which traveled to the 2001 Venice Biennale.
Baker has written essays for the 2001 Venice
Biennale, a monograph on Philadelphia artist
Judith Schaechter published by Glass Press, as
well as essays for the international arts and
culture magazine Tokion. Baker is on the
advisory boards of Vox Populi Gallery,
Philadelphia and The Arcadia University Art
Gallery, Glenside, Pa. |
