Math Bass


Math Bass is an artist known for fusing performance with paintings and sculptures using formal elements like solid colors, geometric imagery, raw materials, and visual symbols. Bass has exhibited at Overduin & Kite, Human Resources, and Vielmetter Los Angeles. The artist was featured in the 2012 Made in LA Biennial at the Hammer Museum and in May 2015, MoMA PS1 presented Bass's first solo museum show, Math Bass: Off the Clock, organized by Mia Locks. Bass currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Early life and education

Bass received a BA from Hampshire College in 2003 and an MFA from the University of California Los Angeles in 2011.

Work

Bass's practice explores both representation and abstraction and recurring themes include anthropomorphic structures, architectural elements, and altered signage.
At Overduin & Co in 2014, the artist turned the gallery space into a geometric, visual playground. On the last day of the show, the artist along with fellow artists Eden Batki, Lauren Davis Fisher, and Lee Relvas staged a call-and-response recitation.
In 2018, Bass debuted a solo, site-specific mural for the Hammer Museum's lobby wall. The mural depicted several stylized forms such as bones-as- speech-bubbles as well as teeth that looked like a set of stairs leading into a crocodile’s mouth.
Bass ventured into oil painting and figuration for their 2021 solo exhibition at Vielmetter titled, Desert Veins. Paintings in the exhibition included a snake curled around a nest of eggs, a camel skeleton, a brick wall, and a grave marker.

Selected exhibitions

YearExhibitionsLocationReference
2015Off the ClockMuseum of Modern Art, New York
2017-18Crowd RehearsalJewish Museum, New York
2017Domino KingdomTanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2017Serpentine DoorYuz Museum, Shanghai, China
2017Over the Top: Math Bass and the Imperial Court SFOakland Museum of California
2019To Name A FewTanya Leighton
2019-2020Fill It Up SilverVarious Small Fires
2021Desert VeinsVielmetter Los Angeles.