NYAB Event - Jason Rohlf “Shop Rag Paintings”

Jason Rohlf “Shop Rag Paintings”

Masters & Pelavin

This event has ended.

Vibrant and beautifully textured, Jason Rohlf’s abstract, geometric paintings use elements of collage and drawing embedded in layers of rhythmic patterns and densely worked surfaces. His newest series of paintings on shop rags are explosions of multicolored forms that possesses a bold graphic flavor and tough, matte surface.

In a confluence of forms, Rohlf develops lines and planes of color to delineate space. Almost in an effort to stamp some order in the chaos, geometric shapes blanket his underpainting’s more organic textures. Relief pushes up from the underpainting and light raking the surface reveals tension between the two. By drawing geometric maps into the work in ballpoint pen, Rohlf assumes the role of cartographer as well. The ink has the amazing ability to migrate up through multiple layers of acrylic, and, even if covered, will later reveal an earlier intention. It has the effect of allowing the artist to have a conversation with the viewer—telling a story of a recalled memory, a once obscure thing.

In defiance of his intent and regardless of how hopeful his expectations—each work undergoes revision after revision as he participates in its creation. Hidden elements from the piece’s past form an essential role on the surface, often as relief, while the most hard-fought details likely earn swift opaque top coats as a result of each day’s decisions. The end result incorporates these earlier alterations, as well as the texture of the rags on which Rohlf is working, supplying the viewer with clues as to the humble origins of the rag’s surface and its ultimate transformation into inventive, dynamic art.