TOBY

Toby is everyone’s “best friend” and “keeper of secrets,” an all-knowing and compassionate cat with a great sense of curiosity and adventure.

Baseman blurred the lines of fine art and toy culture in 2005 with the introduction of Toby as a limited edition 16-inch plush figure that could only be acquired at an art gallery. As the artist describes “Toby is omnipresent, sees all, knows all, accepts and loves you. Toby truly loves you.” 

Toby has manifested as a 3-dimensional figure at various scales, ranging from less than two inches to eight feet tall. Installations of Toby plushes as a marching army, crowd climbing the stairs, or suspended from the ceiling have been displayed at MOCA Taipei (Taiwan), Shanghai chi K11 Art Museum (China), Groove@CentralWorld (Thailand), Drake One Fifty (Canada), and Tauranga Art Gallery (New Zealand).