Radical Presence
Armin Boehm
9783954762668
220 pages
Distanz Verlag Gmbh Llc
Overview
Armin Boehm (b. Aachen, 1972; lives and works in Berlin) is one of
the most prominent representational painters working today. He
records his unsparing observations of the world in which we live in
fascinatingly detail-rich paintings and collages. Toying with a continuity
of confusion, he jauntily mixes elements from pop culture and art
history, from architecture and literature, from the politics of the day
and fantasy.
If his early oeuvre had an air of gloom and mysticism, his works from
the 2010s evince a shift toward flat expanses of lighter hues, often
interspersed with small scraps of fabric. There are portraits in pastel
tones and dreamy flower still lifes; most memorable perhaps are the
haunting depictions of dramatic scenes: street fighting outside the
Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Bataclan massacre, a political orgy
at Berghain. The grotesque figures and the creeping sense of dread
bring the paintings of the German Expressionists to mind. Surveying
Boehm’s more recent oeuvre, the comprehensive monograph showcases
works created between 2010 and 2018. It is rounded out by
an essay by Jonathan Griffin and a conversation with the artist by
Peter Gorschlüter.
