Hernan Bas - Contemporary Art Part I New York Thursday, November 16, 2006 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Victoria Miro Gallery, London

  • Catalogue Essay

    “One of the things that make his paintings compelling is the way in which vision sometimes seems to strain against the limits of proficiency—a dynamic of yearning that imbues the work with sincerity at the level of representation itself. If the rendering sometimes leaves something to be desired, it may be because desire is precisely the thing that Bas is trying to negotiate.” (E. Shambelan, Art Forum: New York, December 2004, p 197)

    In an ongoing exploration of darkly romantic settings and charged androgynous characters, Bas’ paintings have defined a territory suspended not necessarily unpleasantly between the dreams and nightmares of adolescence. Ambiguous, glittering swirls careen around the lot Dionysus Bestowing Midas His Touch, with a single central figure, less grounded than floating, in a loosely drawn pastoral landscape. This is no bucolic idyll, however: acknowledging influences varying from literature to historical painting, Bas mingles contemporary references and classical imagery to a melodramatic, unsettling effect. The diffuse look—as with events in an aquarium--contributes to the vague, unsteady feeling of the interaction pictured, and captures an emotional flux that bubbles beneath the surface of the work.

  • Artist Biography

    Hernan Bas

    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.
     

     
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33

Dionysus Bestowing Midas His Touch

2005
Oil and glitter on panel.
48 x 35 3/4 in. (121.9 x 90.8 cm).
Signed “HB05” lower right; titled and dated “Dionysus Bestowing Midas his touch HB05” on the reverse.


Estimate
$200,000 - 201,000 

Sold for $168,000

Contemporary Art Part I

16 Nov 2006, 7pm
New York