Antonio Colombo presents Vicious, the new solo show by Gary Baseman. The works have been created specifically for this show, and they include new characters for the first time, new personalities in the rich fantasy imagery of the American artist.
The exhibition focuses on “hunger” as a basic instinct that reflects the animal that exists in every human being. According to Baseman, the new, curious toothy creatures are hungry for love and affection, “…but their hunger is so great that it is transformed into viciousness.” His exhibition Vicious reflects a hunger for life, love, intimacy. Baseman is inspired by classic monsters such as Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman who have inspired him to create his own images of good and evil.
A versatile artist, illustrator, designer and author of the famous Disney cartoon Teacher’s Pet, winner of three Emmy Awards, Gary Baseman is considered one of the outstanding figures of the Pop Surrealist scene in California, and has been influenced by vintage cartoons of Warner Bros and Disney, but also by the critical and conceptual attitudes of underground comics. Baseman has created a fantasy universe inhabited by bizarre creatures, characters like Toby, Dumb Luck, ChouChou and Hotchachacha, alter egos of the artist that also embody unexpressed feelings, the inadmissible emotions and secret impulses every man feels with respect to the feminine world. Women, in fact, are the fulcrum around which Baseman’s visions rotate, often focusing on the conflict between good and evil, love and death, joy and suffering in human experience.
Opening is Thursday 5 April 2012 through until 12 May.
