The Art of Gary Baseman Comes to Life!

I had a dream a few months ago. I was trapped in doorless, windowless room with Edvard Munch's The Scream. Not the painting. The screamer from the painting. It was not a pleasant dream.

In the pantheon of characters from famous art works, there are plenty you wouldn't want to spend time with. The hairy-knuckled incubus from Fuseli's The Nightmare, Bacon's Pope Innocent X, pretty much anything that shows up in a Bosch painting.

Then there are the characters you might want to hang with. The ladies of Ingres and Degas come to mind...

Add to that list the adorable creations of Gary Baseman. But in this case, this is not a dream, but a dream come true. This coming Saturday, June 12, 2010, LACMA Muse and Artwalk 2010: The Los Angeles Music and Arts Festival will be featuring a very special performance created by Gary. For "Giggle and Pop," 24 of his ChouChous and Tar Pit Girls will roam the museum and grounds of LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits and create playful havoc. (Choreographed by Sarah Elgart, and featuring a song by Carina Round).

"“Giggle and Pop!” references Baseman’s paintings from 'I Melt in Your Presence' (2007), 'Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou' (2007), and 'La Noche de la Fusíon' (2009). The original tale takes place during a time when evil demons dominated the Forest of ChouChou where the Wild Girls lived. Chaos and misery, fires and ugliness were so abundant and powerful that the Girls could not easily love. The ChouChous, however, were mysterious heroic creatures who appeared then took away and absorbed the negative energy and hate from the Girls, oozing creamy gooey love from their belly buttons. For the LACMA event, the Wild Girls are Tar Pit Girls, positively altered with the love of ChouChou."

And watching isn't enough for you, join in the fun. Attendees who dance or play along with the characters will receive limited-edition sashes with original art by Gary Baseman!

For your visual pleasure, here is some inspirational art for the event, straight from Gary.







Performances 12pm, 1pm, and 3pm (with vignettes in between and until 4pm). See you there!!


Gary Baseman