Press Release:
Jeffery Baker explores aspects of social interaction, interpretation and cultural convention through a variety of media. Working in video, printed media, and sculpture Baker manipulates expectations of packaging and presentation by contrasting appearance and content. Working within specific contexts he manipulates common forms of visual information to undermine the authority of our expectations and peel back layers of subjectivity.
The discursive nature of his practice allows him to work with his surroundings and adapt his work according to the context in which he finds himself, drawing on the inherent expectations and implicit forms of communication integral to any environment, be it a bus or a book of rules. He proves that subtle alterations in our surroundings can greatly affect our interpretations.
Having graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2007 he has since been involved with a number of projects, most significantly, perhaps, has been his involvement in the founding of Nottingham-based artists group, Tether. The group was established in November 2007 with Tether festival, a series of exhibitions and events spread across three weeks. Most recently, Tether have produced an ambitious collaborative exhibition in London as part of Free Range graduate art fair.
For his residency at Ferriera Projects, Baker will produce a retrospective exhibition that charts the history of the gallery from its inception through to the present day. A documentary film will chart the Gallery's meteoric rise in popularity and the massive impact it had on the art scene of the east end of London. The film will depict the story of how the space continually challenged the preconceptions of contemporary art in Britain throughout its development. It will explain how it pushed back the boundaries of British art championing many of the countries most significant artistic movements and their artists in the face of staunch opposition. In addition to constructing a vision of the spaces successes it will also take you through its failures and how it learnt from its few catastrophic failures.
In addition to the documentary film, Baker will produce a series of photographic works to celebrate the Gallery's provenance, and to reflect its consistent dedication to provocative, contemporary art. The exhibition will not only look back over the Gallery's origin but also pave the way for its ongoing development, proving that despite its authoritative position as a national institution it is not afraid to take risks and further challenge our preconceptions.
