In “Gary Baseman: The Door Is Always Open,” the artist welcomes visitors into his creative universe. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you will definitely want to take in this retrospective of one of the major contemporary artists of pop surrealism at the Skirball Cultural Center, running from April 25 thru August 18, 2013. Visit the museum website here.
Press release follows:
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Enter the fantastic world of artist, illustrator, animator, and toy designer Gary Baseman in this first major museum exhibition of his life and work, opening April 25, 2013. Gary Baseman: The Door Is Always Open explores the influences of Baseman’s Jewish family heritage and American popular culture on his exuberant, boundary-defying art.
Baseman’s creative universe comes alive with paintings, photographs, textiles, toys, sketchbooks, and videos presented in a setting that recalls his family home in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district, with furniture and memorabilia from his personal collection. The exhibition includes a vibrant array of Baseman’s illustrations for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone, original paintings and sketches for the Emmy Award–winning animated Disney series Teacher’s Pet, and trailblazing artwork for the board game Cranium.
MORE ABOUT GARY BASEMAN
Gary Baseman was born in Los Angeles in 1960 to Polish-born Holocaust survivors. He began his career as a successful illustrator in the 1980s, then transitioned into fine art in 1999, gaining wide recognition for his whimsical and imaginative paintings. His work has been shown at the Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea in Milan, Italy, and at several New York galleries. He also has pieces in the permanent collections at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Modern Art in Rome, Italy. In 2000 Baseman achieved popular renown as creator and executive producer of Disney’s animated television series Teacher’s Pet, which ran from 2000 to 2002, and was made into a feature film in 2004. At around the same time, his iconic artwork began to infiltrate American homes through the best-selling board game Cranium. His innovative vinyl figurines have been produced all around the world, and some of his limited-edition characters, such as Dumb Luck, Toby, ChouChou, and Buckingham Warrior, are highly sought-after collectibles.
