Gary Baseman "Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou" July 14, 2007

"Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou"
New Paintings
By Gary Baseman

Billy Shire Fine Arts - 5790 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
OPENING: Saturday, July 14th, 2007, 7-10 pm
Show runs through August 11, 2007

A new breed of creature has been born into the increasingly surreal mindscape of much-renowned and oft-imitated Pervasive artist Gary Baseman: ChouChou. The latest addition to the Baseman mythos, a cuddly cushion of unconditional love, who, according to the artist himself, "takes all one's negative energy and hate away by secreting 'creamy gooey love' out of his belly button." Although the ChouChous give love without demand, they do indeed benefit from reciprocation. There has to be some reward for taking on all of the bad karma. As Baseman explains, "After the ChouChous secrete their creamy goodness, their bodies melt; only the head is left. If they are kissed by one of the girls, their bodies regenerate and they can perform again. If they don't get kissed, their heads dry out and all that remains is a skull."

In "Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou"--his first Los Angeles solo show in 2 years--Baseman continues his exploration of desire and longing, a theme he has developed with steady onwardness throughout his career. From the ironic befuddlement of the Dumb Luck rabbit to lascivious Toby (who would be your best friend and keeper of dirty secrets even as he's trying to look up your skirt) to Hotchachacha (who deflowers angels by stealing their halos) to Venison the woodland nymph (who licks your wounds as a prelude to devouring you) to the Happy Idiot Snowman, willing to melt so that his love might live, Baseman's figures reach out, with varying degrees of malevolence, to a world that confuses and eludes them. Such is again the case with ChouChou. Baseman claims, "Some girls accept their love. Others have rage so great that they would club them like seals for their pelts."

Baseman is well aware of the direction he's heading in. "My paintings seem to get more sweet and dirty or perverse with each show," the artist admits, and certainly the paintings that comprise "Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou" are straightforward in depicting the deeper stirrings of human love and its messy consequences. What is so striking in Baseman's case, though, is that his use of the cartoon idiom belies the darker nature of his vision. " I like the notion of challenging the audience with what looks like simple cartoon images that are in fact much more complex," Baseman states, "and I create my iconic figures based on personal needs in my life."

Although Baseman has not had a solo show in Los Angeles in the last two years, his presence is felt everywhere. Indeed, Baseman pervades. " The Pervasive artist, as long as he is true to his aesthetic, can put his art on anything," Baseman offers, "The movement is quite subversive to the traditional art world. Pervasive Art blurs the lines of art and commerce, bringing together fine art, street art, popular culture, fashion, music, toys, etc. It can sell as a product but still be an art piece. Pervasive art is the art of our times."

Baseman's credits are a testament to his pervasion: he has exhibited in Rome, Los Angeles, New York, Taipei, Barcelona, and Berlin. He also had an installation at the Pasadena Museum of California Art and had a two man show at the Laguna Art Museum entitled, appropriately, "Pervasion." In addition to his painting, Mr. Baseman is the three-time Emmy award winning creator and executive producer of "Teacher's Pet," the critically acclaimed animated series and film. His artwork can also be seen in The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and on the best selling game" Cranium." Entertainment Weekly has named Baseman as one of the 100 Most Creative People in entertainment. A 352 page book of his art, Dumb Luck, was published by Chronicle Books in 2004, and you can see his urban vinyl on the cover of the book Vinyl Will Kill.

"Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou" at Billy Shire Fine Arts is yet another salvo in the worldwide onslaught of Gary Baseman's creamy gooey love.

Contact gallery director, Annie Adjchavanich, 310-927-6345 for more information.

Official Website: http://billyshirefinearts.com