Merging figures with landscape, Hernan Bas promotes a strong sensibility within his compositions through a comparison between his subject and nature. In ‘Untitled (Heavy Scarves)’, Bas focuses on two male figures whose contemplative stares evoke a sense of longing. This feeling of is enhanced by their relationship with their environment. Wrought with emotional nuances, Bas has captured an intimate moment.

In paintings, works on paper, sculpture, video, and Installation, Hernan Bas (b.1978) addresses contemporary issues concerning identity by examining the historical, intellectual, and literary roots of Dandyism. His works often take as their subjects major sources of historical painting-often biblical, mythological, or literary- to expound on the classical romantic themes of love and death. Infused with decadence, Bas’ works are fraught with an almost intoxicating emotion. Born in Miami, FL, Bas graduated from the New World School of Arts, Miami, FL in 1996. For his work, Bas has received Fellowships from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (1999) and Columbia University (2001), the 2002 Rema Hort Foundation Grant, and won a McCullough Award for Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Recently, his work was the subject of solo exhibitions at Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover, Germany (2012); PKM Gallery, Seoul, Korea (2012); Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY (2012); Galleria Capricorno, Venice, Italy (2011); Peter Kilchman, Zurich, Switzerland (2011); and Victoria Miro Gallery, London, UK (2010). in 1999. In 2007, the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, FL, organized a major retrospective of his work, which then traveled to the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

Selected Public Collections:

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
Samuso: Space for Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea