Dickens Forty-Four Bascom

Dickens Forty-Four Bascom passed away at his Novato home in May. He was 81. Dickens was a prolific artist who was one of the founders of the "Recycle-delic" art movement, and was well-known in the bay area in the late 1960s and early 70s. Most people living in Marin county, CA during that time period remember the decorated 1961 Ford Falcon he used to drive, one of the earliest art cars. He used to park it in various places in town and play his music while people took photos and asked questions about the car. In late 1972 he opened the "Unknown Museum" in downtown Mill Valley with Mickey McGowan and other artists. The unforgettable museum was visited by hundreds of people and sponsored events such as Fashion Shows and Casino Nights.

Born the 44th day of 1944, his parents listed his middle name as "Forty-Four" on his birth certificate, while his first name was inspired by Charles Dickens. He was born in Oakland, CA and grew up there, but went to the San Rafael Military Academy for middle and high schools. Dickens' father was Dave Bascom, whose bay area advertising firm came up with such iconic images as the Jack Daniels label, the Purina Checkerboard Squares and the concept and design for Skippy Peanut Butter. Dave was an eccentric person who loved goofy humor and art, often mixing unlike objects such as his combination Golf Club/Fishing Pole, obviously having a large effect on his son. He also was known for the off-beat humor expressed in his "Wretched Mess" calendars and newsletters.

Dickens met the early psychedelic movement in the bay area head-on, creating LSD-inspired artwork, then having his first official show at the UFO Gallery on Haight Street in 1967. He moved to Larkspur in the early/mid 1960s and had a hippie-art house in Madrone Canyon that is widely remembered by his neighbors. It featured backyard treehouses with live monkeys swinging around, a stairway made of telephone books, and mosaics everywhere, including the windows. The decorated car was usually parked out front, where local kids in the neighborhood helped him glue on more objects.

Dickens opened the "Free Store" - a fixture in Larkspur on Magnolia Avenue - a few years later, eventually moving to Sleepy Hollow. His art house there had a swimming pool just inside the front gate, often filled with people, as he made music and art in the background. Dickens played the vibraphone along with various percussion instruments, including his "bell tree" filled with pan lids he had chosen because of their tuning (he was often seen in the kitchen department of thrift stores going through pan lids with a pitch pipe). During that time period his partner was the late Laura Allan, who was a friend of Joni Mitchell -- there are photos of Joni next to the decorated car and Dickens appears in one of her songbooks. Dickens was also a fixture at the PX Market in the Yolanda Station area of San Anselmo in the late '70s, often as the person behind the counter, and is fondly remembered by many during that period.

He relocated to the Philippines in the early 1980s and spent several years there doing artwork for various nightclubs, including decorated floors and pillars done with epoxy and found objects. After that he moved to Thailand, where his visionary paintings were influenced by the artwork and culture. Dickens was on the third floor of a hotel looking out the window when the Phuket Tsunami hit in 2004. He had amnesia afterwards, as the next thing he remembered was scavenging on the beach two weeks later -- the experience had a profound effect on him.

Dickens moved back to Marin briefly around 2011, where he rented a house in Santa Venetia. After realizing that the Marin of the early 1970s was gone he then went to Panama and rented a house on a dock near the water, and continued to create art, having a successful large show in Panama City. Meanwhile, he had rented a warehouse unit in Novato and kept his artwork archive there. After returning permanently to Marin in 2018 he continued to make art six days a week, and was often seen riding his mobility scooter from his Bel Marin Keys apartment to the studio daily during the past few years.

Starting in 2018 there have been some shows and exhibitions of Dickens 44's artwork at the Marin Civic Center, Marin Media Center and the Uma Gallery in Oakland. You can see his artwork at the website: dickens44.com - as well as his remembrance page on Facebook under: Dickens Forty-four.