Nancy Baker Cahill is a new media artist who examines power, selfhood, and embodied consciousness through drawing and shared immersive space. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of 4th Wall, a free Augmented Reality (AR) art platform exploring resistance and inclusive creative expression. Her recent AR public art project, 'Liberty Bell', commissioned by Art Production Fund, earned features in the New York Times, frieze Magazine, Artnet, Smithsonian Magazine and the Washington Post, among many other publications. The project, on view through 2021, spans six historic and culturally significant sites along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. and appeared in Artnews’ list, The Defining Public Artworks of 2020. Baker Cahill was also included in ARTnews’ list of 2021 Deciders.
Her 2018 TED talk, Augmented Reality (AR) as an Artist’s Tool for Equity and Access, launched her international public speaking practice. She has since delivered keynotes at the 2019 Games For Change, 2020 A.W.E. (Augmented World Expo) and has spoken at the Hirshhorn Museum and numerous academic institutions and conferences. Baker Cahill is an artist scholar in the Berggruen Institute’s Transformations of the Human Fellowship, and is an artist resident at Oxy Arts' Encoding Futures Residency, focused on AR monuments. She is the Art and Creative Technologies Advisor for the XRSI Safety Initiative, and is a member of the Guild of Future Architects. In 2021, she was awarded the Williams College Bicentennial Medal of Honor. Her recent clean NFT art collaboration, 'Contract Killers', is currently exhibited in the historic Proof of Art exhibition at the Francisco Carolinum Museum in Linz, Austria.
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EDUCATION
Williams College, B.A. with Honors in Art
SELECTED SOLO and TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022 The Plant, Yonkers, NY
2021 Decentraland, König Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2021 Legacy, SXSW, Austin TX
2020/2021 Liberty Bell, commissioned by Art Production Fund, Boston, MA, Rockaway, NY, Philadelphia, PA,
Washington, DC, Charleston, SC, Selma, AL
2020 EVER NOW, temporary AR installation, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
2019 EVER NOW, Facebook Brickyard Building, Los Angeles
2019 Hollow Point: Nancy Baker Cahill, Boston CyberArts, Boston
2018 COORDINATES, Las Vegas, Washington D.C.
2018 Sunset Digital Billboard Project: Nancy Baker Cahill’s VR Drawings, sponsored by IF Innovation Foundation
2018 Hollow Point | Strange Laugh: an AR/VR/Analog event, LACE, Los Angeles
2017 Nancy Baker Cahill | Elisa Johns, Ochi Projects, Los Angeles
2017 Hollow Point: a VR exhibition at Butcher Bird Studios, Los Angeles
2016 Nancy Baker Cahill: Interruptions, Moorpark College Art Gallery, Moorpark, CA
2015 SHEvening, Tanya Aguiñiga and Nancy Baker Cahill, MERRYSPACE, Los Angeles
2014 Nancy Baker Cahill and Yuval Pudik: New Drawings, Vibiana, Los Angeles
2012 Fascinomas, The Pasadena Museum of California Art (catalogue)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Messe in St. Agnes, König Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2021 Proof of Art, Francisco Carolinum Museum, Linz, Austria
2021 Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles
2021 Synthetic Wilderness, Honor Fraser Gallery
2021 Encoded Futures. OxyArts Residency, Los Angeles, CA
2021 The Bardo: Unpacking the Real, Feral File
2021 Canal Convergence, Scottsdale, AZ
2021 Encoding Futures, Oxy Arts, Occidental College, Los Angeles
2021 Luminex: Dialogues of Light, ArtNOW, Los Angeles
2021 Tech/Know/Future, Montclair University
2020 Art Safiental Biennial, Safiental, Switzerland
2020 After Life, a VR exhibition, Epoch Gallery
2019 Desert X Biennial, Coachella Valley, CA
2019 Sandbox Immersive Festival, Qingdao, China
2019 Games for Change, Immersive Arcade, Official Selection, New York
2019 Sonar + D, Barcelona, Spain
2019 New Faces: Mid-Career Artists LA/NY, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles
2019 Virtual Futures: XR Showcase, LACMA booth, LAAS, Los Angeles
2019-2020 Auto Show: Public Art on the Greenway, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, Boston
2018 sp[a]tial reality: Artists Explore the Future of XR, sp[a]ce gallery, Pasadena, CA
2018 COORDINATES: a collaborative, AR public art exhibition via the 4th Wall app, global
2018 CITY UNSEEN: a New [AR]t Experience, Public AR Art Experience, Snap! Orlando, Orlando
2018 MANIFESTO: A Modest Proposal, Pitzer College Art Galleries, Claremont, CA
2017 ICALA VR BBQ, Butcherbird Studios, Los Angeles
2014 Eyewall, The Bottom Line (web video gallery), The Drawing Center, New York
2014 May Contain Explicit Imagery: Nancy Baker Cahill, Kiki Seror and John Weston, CB1 Gallery (catalogue), Los
Angeles
2010-2013 Folk Art Everywhere, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. Rotating exhibition at the Levantine Cultural Center
featuring works from the Exit Wounds Project
2009 Discovered/Undiscovered, University Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
2007 Mind Full: A Group Show, Tinlark Gallery, Los Angeles
CURATED AND HOSTED AR PUBLIC ART PROJECTS | AR MONUMENTS | EXHIBITIONS VIA 4th WALL APP
2021 Encoding Futures Residency at Oxy Arts, hosting AR monuments
2021 Crossroads, in partnership with The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH. Funded by NEA Grant
2020 Monument to the Autonomous Republic of Artsakh, Glendale, CA, a collaboration between Mashinka Firunts
Hakopian, Nelli Sargysan, Kamee Abrahamian and Nancy Baker Cahill
2020 In Plain Sight: a coalition of 80 artists fighting immigrant detention and the culture of incarceration, conceived by
Cassils and rafa esparza
2020 SHE ASCENDS, Louisville, KY, a collaborative AR monument to Breonna Taylor, created by Brianna Harlan,
spoken word by Hannah Drake, collaboration with Nancy Baker Cahill and Alice Gray Stites, sponsored by 21c Louisville
2019 BATTLEGROUNDS, 31 artworks and 24 artists, New Orleans, LA, Co-curated by Nancy Baker Cahill and Jesse
Damiani
2018 Defining Line, Los Angeles, Co-curated with Debra Scacco
2018 - present COORDINATES, Global
GRANTS | AWARDS | RESIDENCES
2022 Art-In-Residence, Lancaster, CA
2021 Williams College Bicentennial Medal of Honor
2021 Encoding Futures Residency, Oxy Arts
2020 NEA Grant, Crossroads Cleveland
2020 Transformations of the Human Fellowship, Berggruen Institute
2019 Fulcrum Arts Benefit Award
2019 Facebook Open Arts Residency
2019 Official Selection, Games for Change Immersive Arcade
2019 Nominee for Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant
2019 Impact Maker to Watch, Stratiscope, City Hall, Los Angeles
2016 Peripheral Vision Arts Publication Fellowship
2014 Herradura Art Competition, Los Angeles 2nd Place
2012 2016 CCI Creative Capacity Fund Grant
2011 ARC Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation
SELECTED PUBLIC LECTURES | 2017-2021
Hirshhorn Museum, Schneider Museum of Art, AWE Conference & Immersive Arts Symposium Keynote Speaker, Impact Reality Summit, Seattle, WA, Factory Berlin’s Artist Residency, Berlin, Germany, Free Radicals Symposium, Fulcrum Arts, Pasadena, CA Seattle Art Fair, Conversation with Shamim Momin and Gary Simmons, Seattle, Sónar+D, Panelist Barcelona, Spain,
Girls Who Code, Los Angeles, CA, Sandbox Immersive Festival, Panelist, Qingdao, China, Games For Change, Keynote Speaker, Exhibitor, New York, SplitX Summit, Speaker, Split, Croatia, LACE, Los Angeles, Boston Cyberarts Gallery, Boston, LAAS, Los
Angeles, Desert X, sp[a]ce gallery, Pasadena, CA, TEDx, Increasing Dialogue Through Drawing: Using AR as a Tool to Create Equity and Access, Sotheby’s Institute, ICA LA
GUEST LECTURES | 2016-2021
UCSD, Georgetown Law, Georgetown University, CalArts, Integrated Media Dept, Occidental College, Colgate University, Mass College of Art, USC Media Arts and Practice, Oberlin College, Visiting Artist, University of Nevada, Reno, Occidental College, USC Film School, CSUN Art Department, Chapman University Art Dept, Integrated Media Dept, Cal Arts, Interruptions, Moorpark College
BIBLIOGRAPHY | SELECTED PRESS
Hyperallergic, How Women Artists Have Been Marginalized in the Blockchain Discourse, Charlotte Kent, June 13, 2021
Brooklyn Rail, The Bardo: Unpacking the Real, Charlotte Kent, June 2, 2021
Glass Tire, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Launches NFT Project, Christopher Blay, May 11, 2021
Bitcoin News, The Flip Side of NFTs: A Glimpse Into the Artists' Unique Perspectives, Reuben Jackson May 10, 2021
The Art Newspaper, Contract Killers: artist Nancy Baker Cahill challenges the efficacy of the 'smart contracts' behind NFTs with an augmented reality project, Daniel Cassady, May 7, 2021
Los Angeles Times, A Huge Digital Artshow will Light Up DTLA Buildings, Matt Cooper, April 8, 2021
Art in America, Augmented Dreams, Samantha Culp, January 11, 2021
ARTnews, The Defining Public Artworks of 2020: From Toppled Monuments to Messages in the Sky, Claire Selvin, December 28, 2020
ARTnews, Who Will Shape the Art World in 2021? ARTnews Presents ‘The Deciders’, The Editors of ARTnews, December 1, 2020
Frieze, Ghosts in the Machine, Elvia Wilk, September 24, 2020
Washington Post, 4 Art Road Trips To Take This Fall Across the U.S., Anna Mazurek, October 3, 2020
Arts Fuse, Visual Arts Commentary: Digital Media - Public Art is a Bridge to Our New Normal, Mark Favermann, September 17, 2020
California Home + Design, The Changemakers, Jessica Ritz, September 16, 2020
Artnet News, The Art World at Home: Curator Michi Jigarjian Is Helping Plan a Giant Mural in Rockaway and Growing Squash in Her Garden, September, 8, 2020
Los Angeles Review of Books, Embracing the Radical Uncertainty of Part-Machines, Nancy Baker Cahill, August 2, 2020
Selma Sun, Selma one of six cities in the country chosen to display virtual art piece, July 20, 2020
Boston Globe, Weighing the Fate of our Most Problematic Public Art, Murray Whyte, July 11, 2020
The Post and Courier, What I did on my Charleston Stay-Put Vacation, Maura Hogan, July 11, 2020
The Georgetowner, Mostly Virtual Arts Round Up, Richard Selden, July 9, 2020
Smithsonian, This AR Artwork Reimagines Historical Spaces Across the U.S., Nora McGreevy, July 8, 2020
Timeout, You Can View This Cool Augmented Reality Artwork In Six Different Cities, Howard Halle, July 8, 2020
CNN, 80 Artists Wrote Messages in the Skies Above ICE Detention Centers, Jacqui Palumbo, July 7, 2020
Whitewall, In Liberty Bell, Nancy Baker Cahill Asks, Who is Actually Free? Pearl Fontaine, July 7, 2020
Art News, British Arts Institutions Receive £1.5 Billion in Aid and More: Morning Links from July 6, 2020, Claire Selvan
KCET, In Plain Sight’: 80 Artists Take Over the Skies in Support of Immigrant Rights, Carren Jao, Mia Nakaji Monnier, July 6, 2020
Raleigh News & Observer: New York Times, ‘Liberty Bell’ Tolls for Sites Where History is Alive and Kicking, David Colman, July 5, 2020
Philadelphia Inquirer, On Art Museum Steps, A Different ‘Liberty Bell,’ Becky Batcha and Ellen Grey, July 4, 2020
New York Times, Protesting U.S. Immigration Policies, Artists Aim for the Sky, Zachary Small, July 3, 2020
Harper’s Bazaar, The Culture Lover’s July Guide, July 2, 2020
New York Times, ‘Liberty Bell’ Tolls for Sites Where History is Alive and Kicking, David Colman, July 2, 2020
Artnet, For the 4th of July, an Augmented Reality Artwork Is Bringing the Liberty Bell to Cities Across the Eastern Seaboard, Sarah Cascone, July 4, 2020
Artsy, Why I’m One of 80 Artists Writing Messages of Hope and Rage in the Sky This Independence Day, Raquel Gutiérrez, July 3, 2020
LA Times, 80 artists will mark Fourth of July with skytyped messages over U.S. detention centers, Carolina Miranda, July 3, 2020
LA Times, Art Reality Studio Arms Artists With VR Gear and Asks: What If?, Deborah Vankin, April 25, 2020
LA Weekly, Human Nature: Are We Animals Or Are We Machines?, Shana Nys Dambrot, April 9, 2020
Vogue, Chanel Manicures, Bondage Ballet, and Emily Ratajkowski: Inside the Art Production Fund’s 2020 Gala, Zachary Schwartz, March 10, 2020
Forbes, The Top AR Apps, Projects And Activations Of 2019, Jesse Damiani, February 27, 2020
Forbes, The Top 35 XR Installations of 2019, Jesse Damiani, February 19, 2020
The Art Newspaper, Plans for Berggruen Institute’s ‘scholars’ campus’ in the Santa Monica Mountains move forward, First cohort of artist fellows includes Nancy Baker Cahill, Agnieszka Kurant and Pierre Huyghe, Gareth Harris, February 15, 2020
Voices of VR podcast with Kent Bye, #874 VR for Good: Using to Explore Contested Sites in New Orleans with Nancy Baker Cahill’s 4th Wall App, January 24, 2020
LA Times, FACES OF 2019, Featured Artist, December 29, 2019
VRScout, First Ever Impact Reality Summit Announces 2020 Lineup, Dave Dorsey, December 23, 2019
LA TIMES, Confederate Statue, plantation, prison: Artists reclaim sites with ‘Battlegrounds‘, Deborah Vankin, October 30, 2019
IMMERSE, Unlocking the Potential of Immersive Technology For the Arts, Noah J. Nelson, July 27, 2019
Art and Cake, Femmebit 2019, Realizing the Future for Women in Art and Technology, Genie Davis, July 21, 2019
Coeur et Art, Art + Activism: Nancy Baker Cahill + Coordinates Project , Alexandra Etienne, July 20, 2019
WBUR, The ARTery, An Augmented Reality Experience on the Greenway Reminds Us Of Life Before The Big Dig, Jacquinn Sinclair, July 12, 2019
Voices of VR with Kent Bye, #783: AR Art on Contested Sites, Feminist Philosophy, & Embodied Art with Nancy Baker Cahill, July 3, 2019
LA Times, With A Free Phone App, Nancy Baker Cahill Breaks the Glass Ceiling of Male-Dominated Land Art, Deborah Vankin, February 28, 2019
LA Times, Review: For Desert X 2019, I Drove 198 Miles to See 19 Artists’ Work. Here’s the Best, Christopher Knight, February 23, 2019
Galerie Magazine, The 9 Most Unforgettable Installations at Desert X, Laura Van Straaten, February 13, 2019
Artsy, The 7 Most Awe-Inspiring installations from Desert X, Kelsey Ables, February 13, 2019
Boston Hassle, WENT THERE: Nancy Baker Cahill: Hollow Point, Kevin Ruhiu, Febuary 2, 2019
LA Times, Desert X 2019: Artists Will Tackle Environmental Disaster, Guns, Immigration, Deborah Vankin, January 28, 2019
The Wall Street Journal, At Desert X, An Arid Art Exhibit Materializes, Brenda Cronin, January 28, 2019
GameDaily.Biz via Yahoo! Finance, Please, Touch the Art: VR encourages Audience to become the Exhibit, Dustin Clendenen, January 23, 2019
The Boston Globe, Thrills and Possibilities As Artist Ventures into Digital Realms, Cate McQuaid, January 16, 2019
VRScout, Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway is Now One of the Largest AR Exhibits in North America, Bobby Carlton, May 25, 2019
Bloomberg Media Documentary Series, Episode 25: ART and Augmented Reality: Nancy Baker Cahill, December 17, 2018
Arcadia Magazine, Arte Colombiano y Realidad Aumentada en el Espacio Público de Los Ángeles, Joaquin Guzman, November 28, 2018
LA Times, How Virtual Art Appearing Along the LA River Tackles Gentrification, Immigration, and Environmental Issues, Anna Furman, November 2, 2018
LA Weekly, The Future of XR is Now, Tanja M. Laden, October 10, 2018
VR Voice, Artists Create GPS Enabled Augmented Reality Art to Deliver Provocative Political Messages, September 25, 2018
Animation Magazine, Biggest Ever VR/AR/MR Art Show Coming to sp[a]ce gallery, Mercedes Milligan, September 24, 2018
ZDNet, Artists Use AR to Display Politically-Charged Art in Provocative Places: Billed as the first truly interactive fine-art augmented reality experience, this may be the birth of a new medium, Greg Nichols, September 14, 2018
Digital Bodies, COORDINATES: The Fascinating Collaborative AR Art Project, Emory Craig, September 10, 2018
VRScout, Artists Spread Inspirational Political Messages Through Geo-Located AR Art, Kyle Melnick, September 5, 2018
ARTnews, A New Model for Public Art: With Coordinates Feature, 4th Wall App Allows Users to View Artist-Designed AR Projects, Claire Selvin, August 13, 2018
Williams College Magazine, Breaking the 4th Wall, Julia Munemo, September 12, 2018
LA Magazine, Artists are Using Augmented Reality to Install Virtual Works in Powerful Places, Brittany Martin, August 13, 2018
La Stampa, L’arte aumentata. Tecnologia all’opera. Il Paese delle Meraviglie incontra Snapchat, Fabio Sindici, June 26, 2018
Wallpaper, The World’s First Augmented Reality Tool For Designers Launches Today, Elly Parsons, June 6, 2018
The Art Newspaper, Nancy Baker Cahill Drops AR Art Bombs, Jori Finkel, May 9, 2018
LA Weekly, The Adventures of Nancy Baker Cahill Across the 8th Dimension, Shana Nys Dambrot, April 20, 2018
SEEFLECTION, Artist Showcases AR Art in 4thWall App, Jordan Castinado, March 2, 2018
GOOD Magazine, These Virtual Reality Sculptures Make Any Environment an Installation, Liz Ohanesian, February 28, 2018
Forbes Magazine, This Artist Just Entered the Age of Augmented Reality By Releasing Her Own Mobile App, Kat Mustatea, February 18, 2018
Aesthetica, VR: Redefining Installation, February 16, 2018
Fast Company, This App Lets you Dive Into The Richness of An Artist’s Studio From Anywhere, Daniel Terdiman, February 1, 2018
Smithsonian Magazine, These Billboards Could Be the First to Feature Immersive Virtual Reality Drawings, Mika McKinnon, January 18, 2018
Brandstater Gallery, La Sierra University, Catalogue Essay, The Illusion of Control, Camilla Taylor, January 16, 2018
Citizine, Your LA Weekend Guide January 25 – 28, January 24, 2018
LA Confidential, 6 Not-To-Be-Missed Art Happenings in Los Angeles, Gabé Hirschowitz, January 20, 2018
LA Review of Books, Featured Artist, January 16, 2018
Art and Cake, Nancy Baker Cahill and Elisa Johns at OCHI Projects, Lorraine Heitzman, March 24, 2017
LA Times, Datebook, Carolina Miranda, March 9, 2017
Peripheral Vision Arts, Surds and Manifestos: The Drawings of Nancy Baker Cahill, Gracie Linden, October 5, 2016
LA Home Magazine, Nancy Baker Cahill, Mark Castellini, Winter/Spring issue, 2016
LA Times Gallery Report, Stitched Paintings, A Shattered Mural, Hidden Heads, Carolina Miranda, May 19, 2015
LA Magazine, Artists Tanya Aguiñiga and Nancy Baker Cahill Exhibit New Work at “SHEvening," Amy Newline Schroeder, May 8, 2015
Artillery Magazine, Shoptalk, Scarlet Cheng, July 30 2015
KCRW, 5 Things to Do this Week, May 11, 2015
LA Times Datebook, Abstract Grids, Honoring An Industrial Designer, Surveillance Art, Carolina Miranda, May 8, 2015
For Your Art, Recommended Culver City Openings, May 6, 2015
LA Times, Imagery That Skirts Explicit, Christopher Knight, August 16, 2014
One Hundred Percent Rag, Little Death- Petit Mors Jouissance, Sandra Vista, August 2014
Was That a Prick, May Contain Explicit Imagery (catalogue essay), Tucker Neel, 2014
LA Weekly, 5 Artsy Things to Do in LA, by Catherine Wagley, August 14, 2014
KCET Artbound, Drawing Tension With Graphite: Nancy Baker Cahill, Liz Ohanesian, January 24, 2014
Los Angeles Magazine, Car Shows, Katy Perry, Art Exhibits: What’s Going On at the New Vibiana?,Theis Duelund, January 21, 2014
LA Times, Pasadena Museum of California Art observes its 10th anniversary, September 8, 2012
LA I’m Yours, Science, Art and Invaders: Nancy Baker Cahill on her PMCA Installation, Fascinomas, Kirk Fitzpatrick, May 10, 2012
Catalog Essay, Nancy Baker Cahill’s Fascinomas at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, Tucker Neel, January 23, 2012
LA Weekly, If Dr. House Were an Artist: ‘Fascinomas’ Turns Diagnosis Into Images at the Pasadena Museum, Kate Gammon, March 14, 2012
Los Angeles Magazine, The Guide: LA-to-Z, Featured Exhibition, March 16, 2012
Los Feliz Ledger, Los Feliz’s Own Nancy Cahill’s Fascinomas at the Museum of California Art, by Kathy A. Macdonald, March 1, 2012
California Homes, Vol. 16, No. 1, Featured Exhibition, February 2012
Pasadena Artbeat, PMCA’s new exhibits engrossing and sometimes gross adult fare, Jana J. Monji, February 5, 2012
Huffington Post Arts Spotlight, ’Exit Wounds’ Exhibition Tells Stories Of Violence And Hope In Los Angeles, April 12, 2011
LA Times, Healing Wounds, Karen Wada, March 13, 2011
Cleveland Scene, Moving Targets: Time and Change at Morgan, by Douglas Max Utter, November 11, 2009
THE Magazine, 17 Artists You Should Know About, Ashley McLean Emenegger, July - August 2009
Craft and Folk Museum Blog, My Petite Bullet Blossoms, May 2009
Molly Barnes’ Interview, Art News Radio Show, KCSN 88.5fm, May, 26, 2008
Artscene, Preview of Exhibitions, Coping Mechanisms, Elenore Welles, May 12, 2007
Whitehot Magazine Issue #2, Painter Nancy Baker Cahill Speaks on Notions of Gender, April 7, 2007