This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Joe Baker is a pop art oil painter of the "punk" West. He is proud of his Native American heritage, and likes to present a romanticized view of his subjects. He has fun inventing outrageous characters to paint, and uses heart shaped sunglasses as a motif.
As a child, Baker spent a lot of time in imaginary worlds, and took art classes from a young age, even attending a summer art camp. While growing up, he decided to use art as a way to keep in touch with fantasy and play. After receiving a BFA in graphics, Baker was drafted into the Air Force. Later in his life, he worked for the Oklahoma Arts Council and earned a graduate degree in painting and combined poetry with art in his thesis.
Source: Contemporary Western Artists by Harold and Peggy Samuels. |
Biography from Savvy Collector:
|  Joe Baker (Delaware/Swedish/English) was born in Oklahoma in 1946. His art abilities were evident as early as junior high, when he was allowed to take art classes at the high school. He was awarded a BFA from the University of Tulsa before being drafted by the Air Force. After his military service, he worked for the Oklahoma Arts Council for two years, then returned to UT, earning an MFA and teaching undergraduate classes. His teaching and administrative experience includes assignments at New Mexico State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Wyoming, Idyllwild Arts and ATLATL.
He has been employed at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona since 1998. Initially with the Department of Education, Baker was elevated to the position of Fine Art curator for the Heard in 2004.
Baker’s relationship with the Heard Museum had its beginning with a solo exhibition in 1982. As an artist he is equally facile painting in a contemporary vein or creating traditional Delaware beadwork.
He has exhibited his work worldwide, including at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Gallery 10, Scottsdale, Arizona; Elaine Horwitch, Santa Fe; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana and in Mexico, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Baker’s work has been featured in a wide array of publications as varied as Art in America, Interview, The New York Times, People Magazine and the Saturday Review, to name a few.
Joe Baker’s work is in many important public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, Chase Bank, United Airlines and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Source:
The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters by Patrick Lester
Contemporary Western Artists by Peggy & Harold Samuels |
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