“Lately, I’ve been making paintings that I’ve taken to calling “quiet” history paintings. Not the typical drama of a war scene or traumatic event usually associated with “history” paintings but instead a moment that, while noted in history books had a softer impact, resonates but doesn’t scream for attention. The day it snowed in Miami was just such a moment. As a kid, I remember finding an old copy of the Miami Herald in my father’s belongings with the blaring headline “SNOW IN MIAMI.” I had never heard the story and even thought it was fake until I asked about it. Snow did indeed fall 45 years ago (January 19, 1977), the year before I was born. While working on this idea, I heard story after story about this moment. My friend’s mother, for example, was at the dentist and got left in the chair as the dentist rushed outside to witness it. I hope this work resonates with locals and reminds them of that odd day when everyone in Miami saw some magic.” - Hernan Bas
Hernan Bas received a degree from the New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL, in 1996. Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized by Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China (2021); Space K, Seoul, South Korea (2021); Rubell Museum, Miami, FL (2020); Centro De Arte Contemporáneo Málaga, Málaga, Spain (2018); Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, ME (2018); SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA (2017); Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL (2013); and Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover, Germany (2012). Bas has participated in a number of group exhibitions, including What's Going On, Rubell Museum, Washington, D.C. (2022); Fire Figure Fantasy: Selections from ICA Miami’s Collection, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL (2022); Collection Focus: Our Beginnings Never Know Our Ends, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL (2021); Eternal Forest, Paradise Art Space, Incheon, South Korea (2020); Where is the Madness You Promised Me: Dystopian Paintings from the Marc & Livia Straus Collection, Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY (2019); Generation Loss, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany (2017); On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL (2017); Tracing Shadows, PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2015); On Painting, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain (2013); Contemporary Magic: A Tarot Deck Art Project, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA (2011); The Collectors, curated by Elmgreen & Dragset for the Nordic and Danish Pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2009); Triumph of Painting: Part III, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2005); Ideal Worlds – New Romanticism in Contemporary Art, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany (2005); and the Whitney Biennial, New York, NY (2004).
Bas’ work is in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Carré d'Art - Musée d'Art Contemporain, Nîmes, France; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL; Saatchi Collection, London, United Kingdom; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA; Space K, Seoul, South Korea; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.