BASK
Quality Sized Meat Matters
Edition Size: 35
14.5 x 20.5 Giclee on 330gsm 100% Archival Cotton Paper
If a work by the pseudonymous Czech-born urban artist known as BASK does not prompt a serious thought or two, then you need to look closer. Behind the colors, behind the compository elements, and behind the tongue-in-cheek pop culture and mass advertising references is something (and someone) a wee bit angry.
The typical BASK painting is a mixed-media piece on found material or wooden panels; the latter often being fashioned into a more suitable frame by the artist himself. The content of a BASK painting, however, is far from typical, even in this age where political and/or social messages have become fairly common motifs of artistic expression.
BASK is not unlike Francis Bacon, the modern British master who discerned the moral rot behind society's status quo. Further, he is wickedly aware of how the collective machinery of the marketplace - the advertorial syllabi and the enhanced images of self-gratification - is often a self-defeating monster eating itself and its own young. To his credit (and perhaps to the relief of the viewer), his awareness is infused with a delicious and knowing sense of humor. There may be a trace of sadness attached to BASK's smile, but he is smiling nevertheless. Probably straight at us.
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