Forrest Bess

This publication is an opportunity to discover one of the most exceptional figures in US-American post-war art: Forrest Bess, fisherman, painter, autodidact, whose small abstractions cannot be assigned to any art movement. Forrest Bess was one of the most extraordinary figures in US-American post-war art. Starting in the 1940s, he lived in isolation in Texas and created small, biomorphic abstractions that reflected his visionary experiences between wakefulness and sleep. Bess combined 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.