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| Jason Rohlf Tory Folliard Gallery 233 N. Milwaukee Street. 414-273-7311 September 9 - October 14, 2006 |
If all of this sounds just a bit formulaic and
cold, what Rohlf brings to the conversation
that adds a dash of passion is his color
sensibility. Each painting in this large series
is anchored by a dominant color, usually
established in a background plane. The
paintings then grow compositionally from
this base. To use a musical analogy, Rohlf
applies the background color like a bass
guitar, to provide that barely discernible but
essential "beat" which the rest of the band
moves in and out of. In Whisper, the color is a
mawkish black, from which scarred lines and
circles emerge. He uses the brightest
contrasting cream tone for the thematic
thought "bubble" (whisper) in the
composition, which dominates the surface.
While his range is broad, from pea greens to
stark reds, all of his colors fall in the worn,
weathered, earthy realm, tempered by what
looks like layers of yellowed varnish. Rohlf
wants his paintings to appear aged and
substantive, to provide the feeling of a long
history and weathered countenance. This
play between warm, tactile surface character
and formal precision helps make the
compositions feel alive.
cold, what Rohlf brings to the conversation
that adds a dash of passion is his color
sensibility. Each painting in this large series
is anchored by a dominant color, usually
established in a background plane. The
paintings then grow compositionally from
this base. To use a musical analogy, Rohlf
applies the background color like a bass
guitar, to provide that barely discernible but
essential "beat" which the rest of the band
moves in and out of. In Whisper, the color is a
mawkish black, from which scarred lines and
circles emerge. He uses the brightest
contrasting cream tone for the thematic
thought "bubble" (whisper) in the
composition, which dominates the surface.
While his range is broad, from pea greens to
stark reds, all of his colors fall in the worn,
weathered, earthy realm, tempered by what
looks like layers of yellowed varnish. Rohlf
wants his paintings to appear aged and
substantive, to provide the feeling of a long
history and weathered countenance. This
play between warm, tactile surface character
and formal precision helps make the
compositions feel alive.
| Jason Rohlf, Whisper. Acrylic and Collage on Panel, 40 x 40" |
| Jason Rohlf, Stranded. Acrylic and Collage on Five Panels, 10 x 40" |
Nevertheless, these are the kind of paintings that generate great viewing pleasure. They give and we
receive. I like how Rohlf's paintings remind us of the timeworn values of craft and skill -- they seem to
emanate the countless hours of labor, looking, thinking, risk and erasure that go into making a piece of
art. These are paintings that could not be executed quickly, yet never look labored either. Perhaps they
will not jolt us toward revelation, but these paintings will leave us with some kind of reassurance that
Kandinsky's dream of how color and form play on the human psyche is still worthy of exploration.
- Debra Brehmer
(Debra Brehmer is co-publisher of Susceptible to Images).
Comments to the writer: dbrehmer@susceptibletoimages.com
(We will not publish any comments without permission).
receive. I like how Rohlf's paintings remind us of the timeworn values of craft and skill -- they seem to
emanate the countless hours of labor, looking, thinking, risk and erasure that go into making a piece of
art. These are paintings that could not be executed quickly, yet never look labored either. Perhaps they
will not jolt us toward revelation, but these paintings will leave us with some kind of reassurance that
Kandinsky's dream of how color and form play on the human psyche is still worthy of exploration.
- Debra Brehmer
(Debra Brehmer is co-publisher of Susceptible to Images).
Comments to the writer: dbrehmer@susceptibletoimages.com
(We will not publish any comments without permission).
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Rohlf also likes to weave in and out of abstraction and explore how form and subject emerge from the
non-representational. Just where is the juncture where one reads a form as a subject rather than a
shape? Many of the paintings in this series include a simple bird silhouette. With the most minimal
line possible, Rohlf makes body and beak and places these shapes within the geometry of his
compositions. Sometimes, as in Stranded, a series of five connected panels (10 x 40"), the birds
dominate and the paintings and become very representational. Other times, the birds are simply
another motif of pattern within the circles and lines. I prefer Rohlf's more abstract paintings. The
birds, to me, feel like an easy resolution to the paintings and when the viewer reads "bird," there isn't
as much room to wander intellectually. In his abstract works, we can first revel in the color, texture
and skillfully controlled rhythms, and then we can let our own personal references and associations
meander into the exchange. We are much more susceptible to Rohlf's gestures and richly worked
surfaces when he doesn't impose a representational subject. I also prefer his small-scale works to
the larger ones. Perhaps because the paintings suggest history, (bits of old architectural surfaces,
wooden splinters), they "read" more directly on an intimate scale and seem to hold more secrets.
When they become gallery-sized, they take on a hint of high-art commercialism: They are so adeptly
rendered and finely composed that one can't help but imagine them above the secretarial station at
the "firm."
non-representational. Just where is the juncture where one reads a form as a subject rather than a
shape? Many of the paintings in this series include a simple bird silhouette. With the most minimal
line possible, Rohlf makes body and beak and places these shapes within the geometry of his
compositions. Sometimes, as in Stranded, a series of five connected panels (10 x 40"), the birds
dominate and the paintings and become very representational. Other times, the birds are simply
another motif of pattern within the circles and lines. I prefer Rohlf's more abstract paintings. The
birds, to me, feel like an easy resolution to the paintings and when the viewer reads "bird," there isn't
as much room to wander intellectually. In his abstract works, we can first revel in the color, texture
and skillfully controlled rhythms, and then we can let our own personal references and associations
meander into the exchange. We are much more susceptible to Rohlf's gestures and richly worked
surfaces when he doesn't impose a representational subject. I also prefer his small-scale works to
the larger ones. Perhaps because the paintings suggest history, (bits of old architectural surfaces,
wooden splinters), they "read" more directly on an intimate scale and seem to hold more secrets.
When they become gallery-sized, they take on a hint of high-art commercialism: They are so adeptly
rendered and finely composed that one can't help but imagine them above the secretarial station at
the "firm."
susceptible to images
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You don't need to spend much time with Jason Rohlf's paintings to know you've encountered something
of substance. The beauty of his well-worked surfaces, the interplay of form and the refinement of
technique have steadily evolved since he relocated to Brooklyn from Milwaukee a number of years ago.
Rohlf's painterly vocabulary is geometic: riffs on the circle, square, and line fall into textural patterns that
develop cadence as he layers and layers the images. He renders texture by collaging some of the lines
and circles onto the canvases, but then paints and glazes everything to unify the surfaces. You could say
that Rohlf works within the formalist vein of Wassily Kandinsky, who shared an interest in the musical
rhythms of color and abstraction.
of substance. The beauty of his well-worked surfaces, the interplay of form and the refinement of
technique have steadily evolved since he relocated to Brooklyn from Milwaukee a number of years ago.
Rohlf's painterly vocabulary is geometic: riffs on the circle, square, and line fall into textural patterns that
develop cadence as he layers and layers the images. He renders texture by collaging some of the lines
and circles onto the canvases, but then paints and glazes everything to unify the surfaces. You could say
that Rohlf works within the formalist vein of Wassily Kandinsky, who shared an interest in the musical
rhythms of color and abstraction.