DE FACTO is a new agency founded by COMMUNiCATIONS and PR DIRECTOR Lisa Baker and Creative and Editorial Director John-Paul Pryor.

De facto is a multi-disciplinary entity spanning EVENTS PRODUCTION, COPYWRITING, EDITORIAL direction, ART DIRECTION, CONTENT STRATEGY, TALENT ACQUISITION, content creation, CREATIVE DIRECTION, BRANDING CONSULTANCY, AND MORE.

LISA BAKER AND JOHN-PAUL PRYOR have INDIVIDUALLY produced work for clients as diverse as M&C Saatchi, Dazed Media, WAR CHILD, THE VENICe BIENnALE, reel art press, Arcadia Group, Maslow’s Mortimer House, Saatchi, FLAUNT MAGAZINE, ANOTHER MAGAZINe, and many more.

DE FACTO COMBINES THEIR TALENTS TO CREATE AN AGILE FUTURE–FOCUSED AGENCY FOR A FAST-CHANGING WORLD.

THE WARHOL KENNEDY RESIDENCE

DE FACTO has just taken on branding, content creation, and visual identity and press for The Warhol Kennedy Residence – home to a largely unseen archive of two true giants of late 20th Century art, the genuinely iconic Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana. Until now, many of these rare photographs have only been shown in private auctions, and as part of a presentation at Photo London in September 2021. The Warhol Kennedy Residence opens its doors on April 2.

HOUSE COLLECTIVE

HELMING THE CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS OF THE HOusE COLLECTIVE BRAND AND BRINGING TOGETHER MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TALENTS TO DISCUSS ISSUES PERTINENT TO THE ZEITGEIST, JOHN-PAUL conceived of and CREATED THE HOUSE COLLECTIVE JOURNAL – an online periodical in the arts and culture space. THE HOUSE COLLECTIVE JOURNAL transformED a boutique high-end LONDON estate agency into an arts an culture content channel. YOU CAN VISIT THE HOUSE COLLECTIVE JOURNAL HERE.

THE WHITELEY

John-Paul recently worked as sole editor on the vision book for the forthcoming redevelopment of the whiteley by Mark. IN HIS ROLE AS EDITOR, he interviewed all the leading figures in the regeneration project of the iconic queensway landmark, and produced all the creative copywriting in this key element of communications.

John-paul COMMUNICATED both the history of the landmark and THE MANY WAYS IN WHICH THE WHITELEY development WILL TRANSFORM QUEENSWAY, LONDON INTO A VIBRANT GLOBAL HUB. YOU CAN Find out More about the Project Here.

MASLOW’S MORTIMER HOUSE

John-Paul WORKED AS THE Cultural Director of Maslow’s, Mortimer House. He CONSULTED ON BRANDING, created the brand’s tone of voice, AND CREATED BOTH the content magazine Maslow’s Notebook, and its web component.

he also SOURCED creative ambassadorships aND PROGRAMMED cultural events for the global brand at the flagship members club and workspace in Fitzrovia, london – hosting the likes of Rankin, vogue, the photographer’s gallery, and many more. Visit Mortimer House Here.

ART ON A POSTCARD

since 2017, LISA HAs managed PR and selected events for charity initiative Art on a Postcard. In 2014 Art on a Postcard was intended to be a one-off secret postcard auction, but it went so well it spawned a small industry.

The illustrious line up of participating artists who have taken part in its auctions to date include Damien Hirst, Gavin Turk, Marc Quinn, Gilbert and George, Marina Abramović, and Jeremy Deller, to name but a few. 

THE OTHER ART FAIR

The Other Art Fair is a global art fair that connects independent artists with thousands of art buyers in a welcoming and creative environment. Set against the backdrop of the world's biggest cities. Lisa has manged media for the fair for seven years, helming over twenty editions in London of the inspiring, event that creates lasting connections between artists and art lovers

FLAUNT MAGAZINE

John-Paul has worked as both European Editor and Senior Editor at Flaunt Magazine, forging its creative agency arm, and he continues to work for the magazine as a creative consultant, working on cover features, and various special projects and collaborations. “John-Paul is an editor and writer with a unique voice and keen eye for art direction and design who is an important player in the Flaunt universe” – Matthew Bedard. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.

RON SANTIAGO DE CUBA

JOhn-Paul Worked under the auspices of A+ Agency as Both Creative Consultant and director on the latest campaign for the cuban brand Ron Santiago de Cuba. alongside natasja fourie, He scripted, cast and produced all of the the key film assets to launch the brand in the Uk market. The film can be viewed here.

KOESTLER ARTS

Koestler Arts is the UK’s best known and oldest prison arts charity. It aims to inspire prisoners and people with experience of the criminal justice system to take part in the arts, (including fine art, design, music, poetry, film and performance). AS a board member of the Koestler Awards programme,lisa provides feedback on the work, and takes care of global communications.

PERONI NASTRO AZZURRO

John-Paul Worked as creative director on ALL OF THE social film assets for the La Passegiata campaign for peroni nastro azzurro and also on the ooh billboard campaign in france in 2020. he concepted, scripted and directed five short films for the brand, featuring leading cultural creatives in rome discussing their inspiration.

REEL ART PRESS

Retained since 2010, through its longstanding representation of UK publishing company R|A|P, Lisa has overseen global publicity campaigns for successful photography books by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pattie Boyd, Billy Name, Brigid Berlin, Danny Fields, Godlis, Art Kane, Bill Bernstein, Burt Glinn and Sanle Sory.

AUTHOR MAGAZINE

John-Paul is Editor of the luxury fashion bi-annual AUTHOR, published by Thames & Hudson USA, and co-curates the content with the book’s Creative Director, Oona Chanel. He has produced features for the luxury hardback with the likes of Sir Stephen Jones, Michele Lamy, Jean De-Charles Castlebajac, Betony Vernon, Diane Pernet, Gareth Pugh, and more.

WARCHILD

war child is the only specialist charity for children affected by conflict. They are driven by a single goal – to ensure a safe future for every child living through war. Lisa is an Art Advisor to War Child UK and also provides PR support for its art related initiatives, including its fund-raising photographic auctions and global exhibitions.

WE CAN’T DO THIS ALONE

JOhn-Paul Worked as editor alongside Ferdinando Verderi on Jefferson Hack’s We Can’t Do This Alone, published by RIZZOLI, AND HE PRESENTED THE BOOK WITH JEFFERSON Hack in Live Q&A events AT BOTH THE WEB SUMMIT IN DUBLIN AND NEUEHOUSE IN LOS ANGELES.

“In choosing John-Paul to work with me on the book that surmises the various projects I have worked on in a thirty-year career, I knew I would be working not only with one of the best editors and writers in the business, but with one of the most culturally knowlegable” – Jefferson Hack

ROBERT MONTGOMERY STUDIO

JOhn-Paul is Retained as creative producer and consultant by the british artist robert montgomery, co-producing global activations and exhibitions. THe most recent of these is the show in mons, belgium, in which six light poem sculptures were erected across the city, including one permanent public sculpture.

THE POEtrY MOVEMENt

John-Paul worked closely with Lord Saatchi and The Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation as creative director on the poetry movement project, commissioning three animated shorts by artists that radically visualised the poems of TS Eliot, Sylvia Plath and Phillip Larkin. “The Poetry Movement seeks to bring poetry to a new generation, by asking innovators from different disciplines to reinterpret classic works” – NOWNESS.

BENiCASSIM MUSIC FESTIVAL

Working with legendary music festival promoter Vince Power, lisa directed all the press and publicity for Benicassim music festival, one of Europe’s biggest and best-loved music festivals. She managed and secured press in the uk, which resulted in thousands of uk residents flocking to the international festival.

THE HOUSE OF PErONI

While Editorial Director at M&C Saatchi, John-Paul conceived and created the editorial arm of The House of Peroni, producing a number of magazines, short films and fashion shoots. and co-curating the experiential exhibitions in the physical houses.

“The aim of The House of Peroni, according to editor and art director John-Paul Pryor, is to celebrate the “profound and positive creative impact Italy has had on the world stage” – Interieur Design

DAVID BAILEY

Lisa baker has worked with legendary British photographer David Bailey on various projects over the last five years, including the publication of his books, the curation of his exhibitions at HENI publishing house, and his celebrated presentation at Photo London in 2018.

ANOTHER MAGAZINE

John-Paul continues to contribute to AnOther as a writer and editor, interviewing iconic cultural figures, such as Nick Cave, Sylvie Guillem, Taryn Simon, Wim Wenders, Jan Svankmeyer, and many more. He also wrote the foreword to AnOther Art Book (Steidl), conducting the opening interview between Hans-Ulrich Obrist and Jefferson Hack. 

DAZED MEDIA

John-Paul worked as Arts & Culture Editor for dazed, and secured interviews with the likes of Julian Opie, David Lynch, Ben Vautier, Antony Gormley, Michael Horovitz, and many more. He also produced documentaries for the leading london style bible and consulted on various brand projects, whihc he would work on as senior copywriter.

DAVID HILL GALLERY

Retained by the gallery since its inception in 2015, Lisa has overseen successful PR campaigns for the gallery’s exceptional roster photographers. From Bill Bernstein’s Disco exhibition to Burt Glinn’s Cuba photographs, Billy Name’s photographs of Andy Warhol’s Factory and Sanle Sory’s exquisite African 1950s and 60s portraiture. 

WOODFALL FILMS

John-Paul Worked as creative director on a capsule line by paris-based fashion label each x other celebrating 60 years of the legendary production house woodfall films, commissioning the british artist robert montgomery to create a series of iconic t-shirts.

THE SYRIAN PAVIlION AT the 56th VENICE BIENNALE

LISA WORKED with featured artist Helidon Xhixha, previous winner of the London Design Biennale, on the presentation and press launch of his monumental Iceberg sculpture, which was sailed along the Grand Canal, highlighting urgent environmental issues and exploitation of resources, set against the backdrop of Venice.

LEADING CULTURE DESTINATIONS

John-Paul worked as Content Director of Leading Culture Destinations. He rebranded the website, hosted events, directed a number of filmed interviews, and created two magazines for the brand. He also co-curated the LCD Ambassador programme and LCD Awards with founder Florian Wupperfield. 

MAKING IT UP AS WE GO ALONG

John-Paul worked as associate editor on Making It Up As We Go Along, which documents the history and social impact of Dazed & Confused. He wrote the foreword to the book, and the ART and SOCIAL chapters of the book. He also interviewed figures such as Rankin, Nicola Formichetti, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Aimee Mullins, Barbara Kruger, and more for the Rizzoli.  publication.

“I believe we gave John-Paul his first job in publishing at Dazed & Confused and in working with him over some considerable time, I witnessed his extraordinary ability, verve and panache.” – Rankin