David A. Bailey (born 1961), is a British

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

curator, photographer, writer and cultural facilitator, living and working in London. Among his main concerns are the notions of diaspora and black representation in art.

Biography

Bailey was born in London in 1961. He became active in the Black British arts scene in the 1980s. A member of the D-Max photography group, he designed the catalogue for their 1987 show at the

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

in Birmingham. He also collaborated with the Sankofa Film Collective, advising on productions including ''The Passion of Remembrance'' (1986) and '' Looking for Langston'' (1988). In 1995, Bailey curated ''Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference, and Desire'' at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

. In 1997 he co-curated ''Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance'' with Richard J. Powell at the

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

in London and the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

in Washington, D.C.. He co-curated the 2005 exhibition ''Back to Black – Art, Cinema and the Racial Imaginary'' with Petrine Archer-Straw and Richard J. Powell at

Whitechapel Art Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

in London. Bailey has extensively written about photography and film. In 1992, he co-edited an issue of ''Ten.8'' with Stuart Hall, "The critical decade: black British photography in the 1980s". From 1996 to 2002, he was co-director of the African and Asian Visual Artists Archive (AAVAA) at the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

. Until the end of 2009, he was Senior Curator of Autograph ABP, and Curator of the organisation PLATFORM's Remember Saro-Wiwa Living Memorial. He is founder and director of the International Curators Forum (ICF) and currently is acting director of the

National Art Gallery of The Bahamas The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) is an art museum located in Nassau, The Bahamas. It was the first institution of its kind in the country's history. Announced in 1996 by then-Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham, the NAGB was part of a ...

in Nassau. Bailey curated the exhibition ''Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now'', shown at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

from 1 December 2021 to 3 April 2022. Bailey was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2007, for services to the visual arts.

Personal life

Bailey's partner is artist

Sonia Boyce Dame Sonia Dawn Boyce (born 1962) is a British British African-Caribbean community, Afro-Caribbean artist and educator who lives and works in London. She is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. Boyce's research ...

and the couple have two daughters.

References

External links

InIVA

Autograph ABP

International Curators Forum ICF

The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, David A. 1961 births British art critics British art curators British art historians Cultural historians Living people Mass media theorists Members of the Order of the British Empire