Dr Baden Pailthorpe

Senior Lecturer
School of Art & Design

Email: baden.pailthorpe@anu.edu.au

Qualification: PhD (UNSW); MFA (Paris 8); MA (UNSW); BA (USYD)

Researcher profile: https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/baden-pailthorpe

Website: https://badenpailthorpe.xyz/

Dr Baden Pailthorpe is an Australian contemporary artist of Celtic Gael (Irish, Scottish, Manx) descent who works and lives in Kamberri (Canberra). He is interested in emerging and experimental technologies and community-based practice. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University School of Art & Design.

Since 2011, Baden’s practice has focused on installation of digital objects and artefacts, alongside screen-based interventions. Examples include: a commissioned performance at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2014); video work depicting a hacked military simulator at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012); documentation of a video game performance exhibited at the Triennale di Milano, Milan (2016); a ‘start-up as artwork’ at Sullivan+Strumpf (2017); and an experimental data visualisation of AFL player GPS data at UTS Art, Sydney (2017).  

From 2017, Baden has worked collaboratively with Adam Goodes, a proud Adnyamathanha and Narungga man, on Indigenous Data Sovereignty and creative projects. Other significant projects/exhibitions include Something you know, something you have, something you are (2023), a major public artwork commissioned by the ACT Government; Clanger, UTS Art Gallery, Sydney (2018); Pitch Deck, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney & Singapore (2017); GAME ART/VIDEO, 21st Triennale di Milano, Milan (2016); Spatial Operations, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle (2015); Guarding the Home Front, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney (2015); On Return and What Remains, Artspace, Sydney (2014) & CACSA, Adelaide (2015); Students of War, Hors Pistes, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2014); Cadence, Westspace (2014); Moving_Image 10, La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris (2013); and Rencontres Internationales, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012).

Baden’s work is held in significant private and public collections, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Melbourne; The Australian War Memorial, Canberra; The Australian National University Art Collection, Canberra; Artbank, Australia; Australian Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst; Macquarie University Art Collection, Sydney; Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle; The Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; The Netherlands Media Art Institute (NIMk), Amsterdam; The National Library of Australia, Canberra; UTS Art, Sydney; and UQ Art Museum, Brisbane; Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, Wagga. 

Contemporary art and new media; digital cultures; spatial practice, media theory, militarism, data vizualisation

Areas of expertise:

  • Electronic Media Art
  • Visual Cultures
  • Lens Based Practice
  • Media Studies
  • Computer Gaming And Animation

2026   Creative Australia Major Commissioning Program, for an exhibition with Adam Goodes at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 2027.  

2023   Public commission, Something you know, something you have, something you are, Uncharted Territory, Australian National University, Canberra

2019    Private Commission, Lyon Foundation, Melbourne (for the inagrual exhibition ENTER, Lyon Housemuseum Galleries, Melbourne)

2017     Postdoctoral Fellowship, iCinema Research Centre, Art & Design UNSW, Australia

2017     Ramsay Art Prize, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (finalist)

2016     Fleurieu Art Prize, Samstag Museum, Adelaide, Australia (finalist)

2015     Australia Council for the Arts,  Development Grant for Individuals (Tokyo Residency)

2014     NSW Visual Art Fellowship (emerging) shortlist, Arts NSW/Artspace, Sydney, Australia.

2014     Prudential Eye Awards, Singapore.

2013     Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant, The Ian Potter Foundation, Australia.

2013     Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize, Hobart, Australia.

2013     External Research Grant, UNSW.

2013     Artist Run Initiatives, Australia Council for the Arts, with Screen Space, Melbourne, Australia.

2013     Early-Career Residency, Australia Council for the Arts, at The Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia.

2012     New Work Grant (Early Career), The Australia Council for the Arts, Australia.

2012     Curator Mentorship Initiative (with Screen Space), National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).

2012     Research Excellence Award, Ph.D Scholarship, UNSW.

2011     Faculty Top-Up Ph.D Scholarship, Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW.

2011     Australian Post-Graduate Award (APA), 3 year Ph.D Scholarship, UNSW.

2011     New Work Grant (Early Career), The Australia Council for the Arts, Australia.

2011     1st Place, Masters by Research (Arts Plastiques), l'Université Paris VIII, France.

2009     The Dean’s List for Academic Excellence, College of Fine Arts, UNSW.

2009     Doug Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize (Semi-Finalist).

2008     Iris Portrait Prize, Perth Centre for Photography (Finalist).