The title My Life in the Bush of Ghosts refers to the Geestenbos (Bush of Ghosts) that Bogaers says he visits in his studio on a daily basis. His work illuminates the artist’s fascination with African voodoo cultures, as well as the invisible and the supernatural. Association and suggestion were important aspects of Bogaers’ visual language from the outset. With his combinations of photographs, often using ‘objets trouvés’ such as amateur photographs, pages torn from books and other visual material, he invites the viewer to discover surprising links. Bogaers makes extensive use of paper-mâché, a material not often embraced by fine artists. As an artist he has never contented himself with the power of photography to reproduce exact representations of the visible world around us. In contrast, he’s constantly searching for ways to capture the internal world in images.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts presents the work Paul Bogaers created in the last five years. During this period, his work has developed from two-dimensional to the three-dimensional domain of assemblage, sculpture and installation, in which photography plays a vital role. With his combinations of both collected and personal photographs, he invites the viewer to discover surprising links.
ABOUT PAUL BOGAERS
Paul Bogaers (Tilburg, 1961) studied at the Academie voor Beeldende Vorming in Tilburg. He previously had solo exhibitions at Nederlands Fotomuseum (Rotterdam), Museum De Pont (Tilburg) and took part in group exhibitions at Foam, W139 (Amsterdam), De Beyerd (Breda) and FoMu (Antwerp). Paul Bogaers has published several books, including the photography book Upset Down (2010) and the literary book Onderlangs (2007). Paul Bogaers is represented by Galerie Pennings in Eindhoven.