Bask's Thoughtcrimes displayed at Mission Space
The Mission Space has moved from '70s rock-and-roll to street art of the 21st century with its latest show, Thoughtcrimes. Saturday, Nov. 2 was the opening of the new exhibit of works by Ales Hostomsky, otherwise known as Bask. Originally from the Czech Republic, he was raised in Florida and now mainly lives in Detroit. The northern city inspires him with its excess of grittiness and broad spectrum of wealth. The streets also provide him with ample materials with which to create his art, much of which is done with found objects such as pieces of wood, newspapers and magazines. Bask often uses familiar symbols, such as company logos and money signs, in his work. He uses hand-drawn and hand-cut stencils and graffiti techniques to replicate the familiar emblems. The artist is self-taught, so the final effect is one of untutored immediacy. He uses his art as a way of expressing how he sees the state of the country around him. He takes the problems that he sees -- the way that people are subjected to a system that essentially eats them up -- and makes art about these issues. Bask tries to keep his works from being dogmatic because he thinks that audience interpretation is an important part of art. As he puts it, "They [the paintings] are all usually subliminal. I want you to look at the piece and see what it means to you."