Internationally known artist, Gary Baseman, will be opening a show in Israel at Urbanix on January 8th entitled “The Sacrificing of Cake.” Judging from the show description, this body of work will be intriguing as it is rooted in some personal experiences. Also, we will be interested to see the appearance of the “dragons” as we don’t believe he has used that imagery before.
“He presents in his works the image of the dragon “Uga” (meaning “cake” in Hebrew), slaughtered again and again by feminine nude images, a sort of erotic girls or nymphs, radiating sexuality – an allegory to the artist’s struggle against his private demons from the past. It is about self examination, observation of the past, correction and change. The narrative of Baseman’s painting indicates in an almost hidden way, his struggle to release himself from the heritage of his parents, east European Holocaust survivors that raised him according to the “American Dream”. The dragon’s slaughtering, symbolically entitles Baseman to release himself from the burden represented by his parent’s world perception, allowing him to re-mold his individual path.”
