The imaginary city landscapes of Dutch artist Georg Bohle are metaphors representing the growth logic of a city and exacerbating the city’s own image. Carefully drawn in pencil, they are constructed on extremely large paper sheets and always looking like a work in progress where, given time, the city could eventually occupy all the blank space. The artist begins each work retrieving his feelings and memories of when he visited a specific place, ie. Istanbul, Tokyo, Tashkent or many others and/or deeply studying its written and visual history . Uncanny stories and ancient fears may lie under a city’s own image. These underlying worlds, which contrast with the exterior face of an urban ensemble are brought to life by Georg Bohle’s drawings.
In each drawing, I follow a consistent methodology. Beginning with a research period, I dig into the written and visual history of a subject and, if possible, expand upon this research in person in the field. This information forms a foundation which, through sketching, evolves into conceptual and formal development.
By delving into the physical and cultural fabric of cities around the globe, I am building a repertoire of textures, objects and emblems that I incorporate into my drawings of imaginary landscapes. Georg Bohle
All images © Georg Bohle
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