Hernan Bas

Hernan Bas’ paintings have an unassuming delicacy suggestive of the transience of life and seduction. In Untitled, he draws his boy as a saint, paralleling a moment of pubescent realisation with historical paintings of religious ecstasy. The use of black paint on vellum gives this figure a timeless quality, reminiscent of Old Master cartoons. Here, Bas flaunts his skill as draftsman: his watery pigment bleeds in shadowy expression, yet retains delicate precision of form. The whiteness of the paper suggests spiritual illumination thus framing Bas’ muse in angelic virtue.