Gary Baseman

Gary Baseman’s artwork is amazingly insidious: It’s part of the Cranium board game, corporate logos and ad campaigns for the likes of Disney and Starbucks, and the Teacher’s Pet animated television series and movies. It commonly includes elements like dogs leaking worms and cats dripping blood, with bones popping out, naughty skeletons, and other creatures riddled by various agents of decay. Yet these figures are often cuter than cute, grinning delightedly in the midst of their woes–it’s that balance of darkness and dorkiness that explains, at least in part, his popularity. This exhibit focuses on Baseman’s paintings, so it’s bound to revel in the kind of perversity that ensues when it’s a devil, rather than a corporate client, peering over his shoulder. 1111 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-259-0085; www.ox-op.com