Aug 20, 2013 Baseman at the Skirball Recap
This weekend I took my family to catch the last weekend of Gary Baseman’s exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. Because the Los Angeles-based artist’s style appears so effortless and playful, he is subject to being dismissed as an illustrator, entertainer, and crowd pleaser. The massive success of the board game Cranium (which features his work) and the Disney-owned Saturday morning cartoon Teacher’s Pet don’t necessarily add to his image as a “serious” or “important” artist, either. So The Door Is Always Open made a real statement for Gary, who happened to be at the installation on Saturday.
At the career-spanning retrospective, Baseman not only shared pieces that range from childhood art to commercial pieces for Time, Ray Gun, and Rolling Stone to his newer and more personal pieces. It’s brilliant that the artifacts, paintings, and pieces aren’t merely displayed but framed in a home-like setting to emphasize both his personal artistic journey as well as the role that his family history plays into it. Put in the context that he is the son of Holocaust survivors who regrouped and thrived in the Fairfax District, his work comes across with added depth, ingenious details, and subversive purpose. It’s quite moving and very cool to see family photos and heirlooms mixed with Baseman-ized chandeliers, table settings, and bedspreads. (We saw the last of his cousins make the trip.)
Gary can come across as quite the showman. Yet when he passionately and scholarly describes his family’s struggles and how he not only weaves it into his art but uses it as inspiration, it’s clear that he’s anything but an elitist. His work is not only pop but populist–a great boon to the mission of the Skirball, the memories of decimated Jewish communities in Europe, and anyone who efforts to recall and create culture as a shared gift to the world. What’s next for the show? He says it would do well in a metropolis like New York with its storied Jewish heritage, but also Taipei where his art is particularly loved. Visit the Baseman site to see more of his art and hopefully announcements about The Door Is Always Open traveling to other cities.