NEW YORK – LEHMAN MAUPIN PRESENTAS HERNAN BAS: Developing TiME LiFE
Developing TiME LiFE is an exclusive online-only presentation conceived by the artist Hernan Bas. It offers a rare look inside the creative process of Hernan Bas, from the perspective of the artist himself.
Focusing on three works (The Sip In, The GloFish Enthusiast, and A Moment Eclipsed) produced for his recent Lehmann Maupin exhibition TIME LIFE, Bas shares the distinctly American historical, cultural, and literary references that inform the narrative and visual content of each painting and work on paper. This body of work features a series of strange and seemingly obscure moments and cult phenomena that are the heart of American culture.
The title, TIME LIFE, is inspired by the Time-Life Book series Mysteries of the Unknown. Published between 1987 and 1991, each book focused on a different paranormal topic, such as ghosts, UFOs, psychic powers, and dreams. For TIME LIFE, each work focused on a singular theme, straddling the boundaries between pop culture and history, fiction and reality, and the artist’s personal interests and curiosities.
The works on paper featured here comprise the “origin story” of TIME LIFE. Bas has an extensive practice of drawing and making paintings on paper that informs the way he thinks through line, color, and the development of his characters. This presentation, created by Bas himself, offers insight into the artist’s humor, wit, and ability to eloquently unveil the most bizarre aspects of American culture—a necessary outlet during this period of isolation.
Hernan Bas creates works that weave together adolescent adventures and the paranormal with classical poetry, religious stories, mythology, and literature. His subjects are often young men, typically in the transitional moment between boyhood and manhood. While the young male figure remains prominent in this body of work, each individual painting becomes an in-depth investigation into a singular critical subject, addressing topics such as LGBTQIA+ activism and desire, politics, news, conspiracy theories, and the occult.
Hernan Bas: TIME LIFE exhibition walkthrough from Lehmann Maupin on Vimeo.
