Paul Bogaers (NL, 1961)

 

Association and suggestion play an important role in the work of visual artist and photographer Paul Bogaers. Bogaers has always been working at the boundaries of photography or beyond; famous are his photo combinations in which he pairs his own photographs with book illustrations, found snapshots and postcards. With his eye for unexpected viewpoints, insignificant details and bizarre combinations, Bogaers challenges the viewer to discover new relationships and meanings.

In 2010 he composed his ‘reversible’ photo book Upset Down, in which every other photograph is presented upside down and that as a result can be ‘read’ in two directions.

 

In his recent work, he stretches the boundaries of his approach still further. Photos are no longer just representations, they turn increasingly into objects themselves. They are also extended with papier-maché, cardboard, fabric, wood and all kinds of found materials. The boundary between material and the representation of material gradually fades, and at the same time the illusionistic aspect of photography is being stretched to a great extend, sometimes even to an astonishing ‘trompe l’oeuil’ effect. As a whole the work tends more and more towards assemblage and installation. Yet it still springs from the same source as before, Bogaers' ongoing fascination with the collage method, which enables him to combine fragments from different worlds to new images that have never been seen before.

 

Paul Bogaers studied at the Fine Art Academy Tilburg (NL). In 2015 he had a solo exhibition in FOAM in Amsterdam (NL) and participated in a group exhibition in FoMu, Antwerp (B).