Jake Baddeley

"Jake Baddeley is one of the most exceptional artists in the contemporary symbolism genre. His work is an evocative mix of the mystical, the profound and the absurd. It is classical yet surreal, contemporary yet historical. Jake Baddeley combines a masterful technique with provocative imagery in which he invites the viewer into a strange and magical world of his own. The major themes that run through his work are a sense of longing, a melancholy humour and a sensual exploration of the female form.” Jake was born in Nottingham, England, in 1964, and has been drawing since his early childhood. After finishing his education as an illustrator at the University of London in 1988 he decides to travel around Europe, which leads him to the Netherlands for the first time. During these travels he meets his wife Vanessa and in 1990 he decides to live in The Hague and to work as an illustrator. Inspired by the Dutch Masters he starts working with oil paint in 1992. In 1996 he has his first solo exhibition. This exhibition is, much to his own surprise, such a success that it offers him the opportunity to paint on a full time base. Ever since he has had successful solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally and his work has found it’s way into many private and corporate collections. Jake draws his inspirations from many sources: the Ancient Greeks, the Italian Renaissance Masters, the Dutch Masters, iconography, mythology, psychology and philosophy. But most of all he relies on his own subconscious and intuition which has proven many times to have a logic and curious independence of its own. www.jakebaddeley.com for original paintings and limited editions