browns and large sections of black, opting for primary and second-ary
colors instead.
His tool of choice is a palette knife, often rubber or silicon tipped,
which “feels like a brush but wipes clean like a knife,” he explains. This
allows Bowman to maintain tight, precise, and often delicate lines that
are evocative of architectural drawing, while also producing a surface
with a surprising amount of movement.
In “Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria,” Bowman takes on another subject
with a simple brick exterior. The restaurant in the South Front District
in a portion of the Block Shirt Factory features a floor-to-ceiling pizza
mural on one side and old-fashioned marquee on the top left corner
of its façade, along with an interesting roof line and arched entryway.
In Bowman’s reimagining, the pizza joint’s appearance also reflects
its communal role. While it is built out of the same style and shade of
brick as other structures in the area, Bowman represents it in a bright,
saturated firehouse red. The perspective is realistic but exaggerated,
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Mitchell-Anderson House, 20 x 20 inches, oil on canvas.
and the paint application grants the scene an unexpected amount of
kinetic energy. Looking at it, one imagines spirited music emanating
from its walls. Despite an absence of customers, the scene is full of
excitement and movement.
Bowman likes to play with expectation in his work, often creating
contradicting moods and exaggerated details that playfully catch
the eye.
“I am playing with weird perspectives and weird points of view,” he
says. “Sometimes I’ll do this with a view of the structure from the air
or by creating things that are out of kilter, like seeing multiple planes
at the same time. I use these techniques because I want the viewer
to wonder, ‘What’s wrong, what’s causing this?’ Trickery catches the
viewer’s attention. If you can hold that for a few minutes then they’re
having a conversation with the piece, and that’s a remarkable thing. I
don’t typically include figures in my work, but the viewer is always a
subject in my paintings.”
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