Hernan Bas: Choose Your Own Adventure

Yuz Museum, West Bund, Shanghai, China

Overview
Installation view, Hernan Bas: Choose Your Own Adventure, Yuz Museum, West Bund, Shanghai, China, 2021
Installation view, Hernan Bas: Choose Your Own Adventure, Yuz Museum, West Bund, Shanghai, China, 2021

This exhibition could be seen as an epitome of Bas’ artistic practice of almost twenty years and features more than twenty quintessential paintings as well as rarely-seen video installations from the early period. Presented chronologically and thematically, all artworks are coherent with the theme of “adventure,” inviting visitors to roam wildly among the artist’s creative chapters over different periods.

Hernan Bas is renowned for his complex and intricate narrative paintings. He frequently immerses himself in a staged process of deep and detailed research centered around a specific theme, followed by a continuous exploration of the topic in question. Based on his extensive research and observations, he remixes materials and samples that are relevant to himself and recomposes them in his inimitable personal vocabulary and aesthetics, in a way similar to a visual collage. The jungle adventures of his childhood in Miami and North Florida, being steeped in local myths and legends of mystery and the supernatural, and his diverse interpretations and wild imaginations towards fascinating stories all have a profound impact on his artworks. His deep-seated interest in horror films, television programs, the paranormal, occult, fashions, and various subcultures have empowered him with a steady stream of inspiration. Not only are the whimsical and fascinating scenes on Bas’ canvas born out of his personal experiences, interests, and obsession, but they have also been informed by art history and early literature, particularly the poetry and decadence of authors such as Joris-Karl Huysmans, Oscar Wilde, and Charles Baudelaire. Through classical and romantic filters, these dandies of the 19th century, lonesome youths, and treasure explorers have been granted contemporary rebirth through Bas’ visualization and imagination.
 
These lanky, male characters between the ages of adolescence and adulthood are recurring protagonists in Bas’ paintings. They often contemplate in solitude or stare off canvas, wandering through splendid and flowery fantasies, or lost in dangerous and chaotic apocalyptic scenes. Young men with indifferent and melancholic looks depicted in eccentric postures are rooted in the artist’s early works and have accompanied him throughout his artistic journey. They can be interpreted as Bas’ autobiographical self- exploration, as well as his observations and portrayal of contemporaries facing the unknown world, effectively capturing the universal states and sentiments of life. In some of his works, Bas has turned towards exploring small group portraits, framing those interconnected yet distant, deceptively peaceful while simultaneously unsettling moments.
Installation Views
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