Gary Baseman (born September 27, 1960) is an American artist, cartoonist, and animator who investigates history, heritage, and the human condition (especially love, longing, and loss).
Through iconography and visual narratives that celebrate “the beauty of the bittersweetness of life,” his work brings together the worlds of popular culture and fine art.
Recent projects include a collaboration with COACH; a documentary Mythical Creatures[2] about his family heritage; a traveling retrospective that featured hundreds of his paintings, photographs, videos, and toy and costume designs.
[3]Baseman graduated magna cum laude from UCLA in communications, inspired by the American Constitution's First Amendment, and developed into an effective visual problem-solver and message-maker.
[citation needed] While Baseman is a figure in the Los Angeles art world, he is also situated within an international cultural movement that includes both mainstream and underground artists.
He established himself during this period as an in-demand artist with a unique visual sense and the ability to generate sharp, witty messages.
His desire to learn and explore other areas of art would result in an explosive creative period for him that blurred lines and expanded audiences as he explained:“I had a hunger for many things.
While doing my editorial work, even if I had an assignment, I couldn’t stop experimenting with my own things and painting like crazy, but still always made sure to hit my professional deadlines.
At the time, I was gradually giving up the editorial work, so it was an easier transition.”[12] In 1999, Baseman exhibited "Dumb Luck and Other Paintings About Lack of Control" at the Mendenhall Gallery in Los Angeles.
The exhibition established Baseman's transition from illustration to fine art, during a time when many of his artist-friends, like Mark Ryden, the Clayton Brothers, and Eric White made similar moves.
The exhibition presented more than 300 artworks (including paintings, photographs, toys, sketchbooks, and videos) in an experiential home environment in which guests were invited to sit on a sofa or at the dining room table and explore, participate and visit.
In Summer 2015, Baseman commemorated Toby's 10th year as a formal artwork, blurring the lines of fine art and toy culture.
The exhibition was housed in another experiential environment conceptualized by Baseman and co-designed by Hjalti Karlsson of New York-based design firm karlssonwilker.
Prominent characters include Toby, Hotchachacha, "the little devil who steals haloes," and ChouChou who "dispels hate and fear, and oozes Creamy Gooey Love out of his belly button.
"[14] For toy, figurine, and limited edition projects, Baseman has collaborated with Critterbox, Toy2R, Kidrobot, Pretty in Plastic, The Loyal Subjects, and 3DRetro.
The collection introduced an original series of Baseman characters (Buster Le Fauve, Emmanuel Hare Ray, Kiki, Buddy Boy, Butch), capturing the attitude of New York City and developed with the Coach girl in mind.
In 1998, Baseman co-created the Disney animated series Teacher's Pet with Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, which is about a dog who dresses as a boy because he wants to go to school.
[16] The cartoon included the voice talents of Nathan Lane, Debra Jo Rupp, Jerry Stiller, David Ogden Stiers, Mae Whitman and Wallace Shawn.
[22] The project began in 2012 when Baseman first traveled to Eastern Europe on a Fulbright Fellowship, detouring to his parents' hometowns which had not been visited by any family member in over 60 years.
Mythical Creatures aims to connect the stories of the Holocaust to an entirely new generation through Baseman's parents' dark experiences during World War II.
"[23] Mythical Creatures is supported by the Sundance Institute's New Frontier Story Lab and the Museum of the Holocaust in Los Angeles.