Tate Appoints First Photography Curator

Tate has appointed Simon Baker as the organisation’s first Curator of Photography and International Art. In this newly created role, Simon is working on the acquisition and research of works for the Tate Collection as well as contributing to the photography exhibition programme at Tate Britain and Tate Modern.

Frances Morris, Head of Collections (International Art) Tate Modern, said:
“Over the last few years photography has become increasingly central to Tate's activity whether in relation to temporary exhibitions or to the development of the permanent collection. Simon’s appointment allows us to continue to develop the ways in which we celebrate and explore the art of photography with the advantage of scholarly expertise enthusiasm and focus.”

Simon studied history of art at University College London, receiving his PhD in 2002. He was a Henry Moore Fellow at UCL, then Gould Fellow in History of Photography at Princeton University from 2003-4. Since 2004 until joining Tate, he was Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Nottingham, specialising in History of Photography and Surrealism as well as running the MA in post-war and contemporary art. He has published widely on surrealism, photography and contemporary art, including recent essays on the work of Jake and Dinos Chapman. In 2006 he co-curated the exhibition Undercover Surrealism (on Georges Bataille and DOCUMENTS) with Dawn Ades and Fiona Bradley, and then in 2008, worked with the same team to co-curate the exhibition Close-up: proximity and defamiliarisation in art, film and photography, at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh. He is currently chair of the editorial group of the Oxford Art Journal.

Simon Baker is co-curator of Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera, a major photographic exhibition opening in May 2010 at Tate Modern organised in conjunction with San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

For further press information please contact Bomi Odufunade, Press Officer, Tate Modern on 020 7887 4942 or email bomi.odufunade@tate.org.uk