Dumb Luck : The Art of Gary Baseman

Library Journal

This lavish, full-color book captures 15 years of highly imaginative work from contemporary American artist Baseman, including paintings, illustrations from advertisements and magazines, personal sketchbooks and photographs, and artwork from his Emmy Award-winning animated TV show, Teacher's Pet, about a dog who wishes he were a boy. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, best describes Baseman as an artist with "the magical ability to look into the minds of cute little cartoon animals and masterfully paint their feverish, unsettled dreams." Baseman's highly personal, cartoonlike iconography is inhabited by goofy-looking rabbits with bug eyes and buck teeth or demons with phallic noses chasing an elusive female head sometimes attached to a human body or the body of a worm or flying freely on its own through space. The book is loosely divided into four chapters, including a list of his pieces (without dates), tributes from other artists, an introduction by Barry Smolin, and a prolog by Baseman himself. The back matter includes a list of exhibitions, published works, lectures, and honors. Baseman's art may not be for everyone, but his symbols and narratives will certainly provoke wonder. Recommended for most collections. David A. Beron , Univ. of New Hampshire Lib., Durham Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.