About John
John Bohl was born in 1983 in New York. He graduated with a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and currently lives and works in Baltimore. Recent exhibitions include "40th Anniversary Exhibition" at School 33 in Baltimore and "Flat File" at ICA in Baltimore. He has also produced a variety of prints and publications with Beach Press in London and Oso Press in Los Angeles.
Paintings 2015 - 2023
My work is created by mining an array of sourced imagery that is manipulated to form otherworldly and sometimes impossible scenarios. The paintings originate by pulling imagery from internet ads, cell phone pictures taken in the studio, stock art, and stills from YouTube videos. Source material is broken apart and layered together in photoshop where these “mash ups” of sorts are formed, then eventually through editing and experimentation, I hope to find a way for these sometimes disparate elements to live together and redefine themselves. I’m interested in what happens when the narrative elements within the painting become obscured, or when there is not quite enough information to put together a cohesive storyline. The ultimate objective is that viewer is inspired to examine the environment within the painting more carefully and come up with their own perspective of what is happening within the work. Through this process I am trying to blur boundaries and explore the distinction between abstraction and representation, fantasy and dystopia, the everyday and the absurd.
The works below are primarily airbrushed acrylic on canvas and are created using a combination of hand cut / machine cut stencils. My practice relies greatly on the use of the airbrush and I draw an endless amount of inspiration from its use in car culture, vintage print advertising, and fantasy art.
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Fireacrylic and gouache on canvas, 28" x 22", 2018
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Stationaryacrylic and gouache on canvas, 22" x 18", 2017
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Stemsacrylic on canvas, 28" x 22", 2021
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Flowersacrylic and gouache on canvas, 40" x 32", 2020
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In Love Againacrylic and gouache on canvas, 32" x 26", 2015
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Backdropacrylic and gouache on canvas, 28" x 22", 2021
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Floatacrylic and gouache on canvas, 28" x 22", 2020
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Crushacrylic and gouache on canvas, 32" x 26", 2015
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Rollacrylic on canvas, 28" x 22", 2019
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Gummiacrylic and gouache on canvas, 26" x 32", 2015
Paintings 2012 - 2014
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Xacrylic on canvas, 40" x 32", 2012
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Glitchoil on canvas, 14" x 18", 2014
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Spideroil and acrylic on canvas, 22" x 28", 2013
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Stoneacrylic on canvas, 20" x 16", 2014
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Dropgouache and acrylic on paper, 19" x 15", 2013
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Kissgouache and acrylic on paper, 19" x 15", 2013
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Postergouache on canvas, 20" x 16", 2014
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Hourglassoil and acrylic on canvas, 30" x 22", 2014
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Metalacrylic on paper, 28" x 22", 2012
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Flaggouache and acrylic on paper, 19" x 15", 2012