Publication

FORREST BESS

With texts by Tomma Abts, Dieter Schwarz, Amy Sillman & Moritz Wesseler

This publication offers an opportunity to discover one of the most extraordinary figures in post-war American art: Forrest Bess, who described himself as a painter and fisherman and whose biomorphic abstractions cannot be assigned to any movement. Starting in the 1940s, he lived in isolation in Texas and created small paintings that reflect his visionary experiences between wakefulness and sleep. Bess combined his art with an intense exploration of mythology, psychology, and sexology. Believing that immortality could be achieved through the union of the masculine and feminine, he underwent medical procedures. His unconventional works received posthumous recognition in international exhibitions and influenced many contemporary artists such as Amy Sillman, Richard Hawkins or James Benning.