Enrico Baj (Milan, 1924 – Vergiate, 2003) was an Italian painter, printmaker and writer on art. He studied part-time at the Brera Academy and then took a law degree. Began to paint again 1946-7, soon developing an abstract tachiste style with linear signs. Founded the Nuclear Art Movement with Sergio Dangelo in 1951 and in the following years sought to establish contacts with avant-garde artists in other countries. First one-man exhibition with Dangelo at the Galleria San Fedele, Milan, 1951. Joined Jorn’s Mouvement International pour une Bauhaus Imaginiste in 1954 and with him organised the International Centre for Ceramics at Albisola Marina. Developed a more figurative style with humorous caricature-like personages and from 1955 began to make use of collage (cotton, mattresses, glass, etc.), both alone and with oil paints. Contacts with Fontana, Manzoni, Klein and from 1960 with the French Nouveaux Realistes. Series of humorously ironic paintings of generals, ‘decorated persons’, furniture, etc. and modifications of other artists’ paintings. In 1962 met André Breton, who included an essay on him in the third edition of Le Surréalisme et la Peinture.
Enrico Baj. Il potere dell'ironia - Pisacane Arte, Milano
Enrico Baj. Il tempo dell’Apocalisse - Studio Marconi ’65, Milano
Enrico Baj: Play as Protest - Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen
Enrico Baj. Lo specchio del Lago - Palazzo Parasi, Cannobio
Enrico Baj. Gioco e Potere - Il Brunitoio, Ghiffa
Enrico Baj. Arte è libertà - Fondazione Marconi, Milano
Enrico Baj. Dal De rerum natura alle Montagne - Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano, Milano
Enrico Baj. L’invasione degli ultracorpi - MAR, Museo archeologico regionale, Aosta
Baj at Marconi’s. Plastics 1967 - 1969 - Giò Marconi Gallery, Milan
Enrico Baj - Luxembourg & Dayan, New York City, NY
Enrico Baj - Segni e disegni - Fondazione Marconi, Milan
Enrico Baj - Segni e disegni - Studio Marconi '65 , Milan
Enrico Baj - I Funerali dell'anarchico Pinelli - Palazzo Reale, Milan
Dieci Anni Di Museo A Lissone - Museo d`Arte Contemporanea Lissone, Lissone
Gli Abitanti Del Museo N.4 Enrico Baj - Plastiche - Fondazione Marconi, Milan
Baj Mobili Animati - Fondazione Marconi, Milan
Enrico Baj - Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York City, NY
Enrico Baj - Opere scelte 1956-2003 - Galleria Guastalla Centro Arte, Livorno
Enrico Baj - Mécanique & Hydraulique - Marlborough Monaco, Monaco
Enrico Baj. Colloquio - Galleria L'Incontro, Chiari, Bs
Enrico Baj - Opere 1951–2001 - Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome
Enrico Baj – Apocalypse - Palais Stutterheim, Erlangen
Enrico Baj: fin de siècle - Musée des beaux-arts de Chartres, Chartres
Enrico Baj - Gravures - Galerie Calart Actual, Geneva
Enrico Baj - Dame coccarde e distintivi - Galleria Rubin, Milan
Enrico Baj, Monstres, Figures, Histoire d'Ubu - MAMAC - Musee d´Art Moderne et d`Art Contemporain Nice, Nice
Enrico Baj : De tuin der lusten - PMMK - Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Oostende
Enrico Baj – Die Mythologie des Kitsches - Galerie Beaubourg, Vence
Enrico Baj - Palazzo Forti - Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Verona
Enrico Baj - Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), Indianapolis, IN
Enrico Baj - Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf
Enrico Baj. Affären Pinelli. En stor tablå - Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Baj - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), Chicago, IL
Enrico Baj - Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague
Paintings by Enrico Baj - Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Baj: Ladies and Gentlemen - Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne
Enrico Baj: Assemblages, Collages, Paintings - Grosvenor Gallery, London
Enrico Baj: ebanisterie e mobili - Galleria Schwarz, Milan
Enrico Baj - Galleria del Naviglio, Milan
Enrico Baj: Lithographs - Institute of Contemporary Arts, London