Works on paper always impress me, and it goes without saying that John Bohl has somewhat blown my mind with his gouache-miracles. Brightly colored and quirky, his designs play into the contemporary still life genre of painting. The dripping and splashing in his work reminds me of jumping in puddles as a kid, though they were usually colored brown not neon pink. Bohl also manages to squeeze in a few Disney references with an animated piece of toast possessing Mickey’s hands and feet, and another blob-like creature titled “Mickey” that looks more like a glazed donut than the famous mouse.
Perhaps Bohl is commenting on global culture, or maybe he just has an obsession with amorphous forms – or just a fascination with color. Either way, his works on paper make me jealous of his vision, aptly shown in one work called “the future” (2009): glorious things can be done with gouache and a little bit of time.
Text by Marion Piper.
