HERMAN BAS 1978 Miami, Florida, US

Hernan Bas (born 1978) is an artist based in Miami, Florida. He graduated in 1996 from the New World School of the Arts in Miami.[1] Bas is known for his depictions of waifs and dandies, who are somewhat based on his own experiences, and his work with the material SlimFast and the paranormal.[2][3] Over time, Bas says, these characters have grown in his paintings and taken on different roles.[2] Bas is gay and queerness often influences his work in the form of waifs and other young men, typically recurrent characters in his work.[4] Bas owns a building in Detroit that was renovated by Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller, the couple behind Detroit electronic music act Adult. The building is on a block called Service Street noted for the number of diverse and accomplished artists that work there, including techno music pioneer Derrick May.[5] Early life and education Bas was born in 1978, in Miami, Florida and moved upstate to a small town as a young boy.[6][7] Bas has described growing up in the town as "kind of like living in the 'X-Files," and has credited it with his interest in the paranormal.[6] He says he had a "spooky childhood" full of "U.F.O. and Bigfoot sightings mixed with ghosts in the woods and a bunch of other bizarre occurrences."[6] Bas began painting at around three or four years old.[6] He attended the art magnet program in the Miami public school system. Bas said that through the program he effectively began attending art school in seventh grade and by the time he graduated from New World in 1996, he was doing four hours of art every day.[3] Because of his early art education, Bas did not feel that he needed any more formal training and left the Cooper Union after one semester.