Sometimes sadomasochistically charged, but more often suggesting the listless longeurs of love gone bad or unrequited lust, Hernan’s Bas… paintings continue to map a fantastical narrative territory populated exclusively by wan, usually male adolescents. Working on wood panels with a mixture of water-based oil, gouache and acrylic… Bas strikes an artful balance between the maudlin and the mischievous, the coolly blasé and the geekishly erudite, while treading the perilous line that separates ‘bad’ painting from bad painting. He handles his medium with brash confidence, veering between loose expressiveness, rococo fussiness, and happy-little-tree, bob Ross realism. E. Schambelan, ‘Hernan Bas’ in ArtForum, December, 2004, p. 197
Hernan Bas (b.1978) is a contemporary American painter who lives and works in Miami. His paintings are influenced by the romantic and decadent legacies of 18th and 19th century art, literature, poetry, and religion. These influences result in canvases that are complex and highly detailed and often portray characters, typically young male figures, nestled among flora and fauna.
Hernan Bas received a degree from the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida in 1996. Solo exhibitions of Bas’ work have been curated by the Rubell Museum, Miami, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, and Space, K, Seoul. Bas’ artwork is found in permanent collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, and Carré d'Art - Musée d'Art Contemporain, Nîmes, France.
2004 Oil, pencil and collage on board. 78.7 x 60.7 cm. (31 x 23 7/8 in). Signed and dated ‘HB 04’ lower right, also signed, titled and dated ‘HB 04 Hope’ on the reverse.