Arne
Bass
Photo: Jayson Byrd
Arne Bass is a traveler. Having received formal
art training in Boston and New York, he headed south to Mexico to paint
portraits and landscapes. He continued on to South America and eventually
to Europe and Africa. It was while he was wandering through the high
deserts of South Africa that he had the profound experience that changed
his art.
The combi vehicle in which he was riding became
stuck in the sand.
Searching for help, he hiked 20 kilometers,
passing through a wonderland of wildlife. "It was multi-dimensional", he
says. "Crawling insects and reptile life at my feet, large quadrupeds like
kudu, gemsbok, zebra and springbok jumping all around me and flying insects
and birds whizzing through the air. It was like being in my own National
Geo special!". On this trek he came across some caves filled with ancient
San drawings, so simple and elegant and yet so expressive that he knew
he'd have to come back to this area to seek out more of this art and try
to determine its meaning.
Bass spent many years doing just that. No
longer was he interested in painting images of the natural world. He immersed
himself in caves and cave art, actually staying in the caves and sleeping
out under the stars. Many of the paintings he did during this period
were done in a trance state as he believes it was the way the San shamans
had painted their images.
Back in the States, traveling through the Southwest,
he continues to explore the rock art of the early peoples in this area
and its close affinity to the work he experienced in Africa.
Extra info: For more information on
San shaman art and trance art, read the story "Ancient Altered States"
in the June, 1998 issue of Discover Magazine
Arne recently returned from Italy, where he created several new paintings.
Arne Bass Art and Order pages:
Each painting is limited to a production of 20 signed
and numbered paintings. Special orders for larger size paintings will be
considered. Request information by e-mail
Select Arne Bass paintings from
the box below
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