As blog readers will know, the retrospective exhibition of Prof. John Bohac’s work will be up in the University Art Gallery through October 1, 2015. Student Anna Lang (Communications major) wrote a great post for the University Art Gallery blog which is reprinted below. We hope it serves as a great added inspiration to attend the exhibition!
John Bohac retrospective is now open in the University Art Gallery
Anna Lang
This exhibition presents the forty-five-year artistic journey of Truman professor John Bohac. A representative selection of over fifty works demonstrate how he has grown as an artist over his lifetime. The Retrospective exhibition includes paintings, drawings, manipulated signage, and mixed-media assemblages.
Professor Bohac has always shown natural artistic talent but describes his early outlook on art as very narrow. “I viewed art as a skill and that was the extent. My early pieces reflect that,” said Bohac. After taking a few art courses at Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University), his perception of art completely changed.
“I learned that art was so much more than just skill. There is a whole other dimension to it,” said Bohac. “Art involves a lot of critical thinking.” He spends a lot of time deliberating his pieces before, during, and after their production.
Today, Professor Bohac is a wry commentator on the history of modern art. He routinely reads art journals and studies contemporary art theories and criticism. His work is often influenced by this research. “Someone will write something that will make me think in a completely different way. I’ll think about it for a while, then I might even make some art about it.” Some of his pieces embrace art theories, while others poke fun at them.
Over the course of Bohac’s career, his works have been showcased in many exhibitions. He thought it would be interesting to include information in this exhibition about where his works have been exhibited in the past. “Having it exhibited is kind of akin to having written work published,” said Bohac. Each work’s label in this exhibition includes information about previous exhibitions in which the work has appeared and, in some cases, is accompanied by postcards and brochures from those past exhibitions.
Bohac looks forward to cultivating new works too ambitious to try to balance with a teaching career. “I’d like to work on some more labor-intensive pieces because I will have more time,” said Bohac.
Both Professor John Bohac’s skill and thoughtfulness are prevalent in his Retrospective exhibition. Each work of art represents a different stage in his development as an artist over the years, and together creates a rich but concise image of forty-five years in the art field.
