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‘I paint the kind of people I’m attracted to’: Hernan Bas on hiding from the world in Venice
The Cuban-American artist likes to paint pretty young white men – inspired by his fascination with Holden Caulfield. So why do his portraits have a sinister edge?
TL;DR
- Hernan Bas is an artist currently living and painting in Venice, focusing on tourists.
- His new exhibition, "The Visitors," at the Ca’ Pesaro museum features 30 paintings of young men, often in satirical or bleak tones.
- Bas is inspired by the concept of the tourist as an innocent or amnesiac figure, contrasting with the global events he is temporarily ignoring.
- The figures in his paintings are predominantly young, white men, reflecting his personal attractions and his long-standing fascination with characters like Holden Caulfield.
- He emphasizes the narrative and conceptual elements of his work, seeing himself as a conceptual artist who paints, with the idea and scenario being crucial.
- Bas researches his subjects deeply, sometimes finding human folly, and incorporates invented or spliced-together texts (like TripAdvisor reviews) with his paintings.
- The exhibition is intentionally installed to allow visitors to experience a tourist moment by viewing the Grand Canal, regardless of the artwork's presence.