Biography

Jeff currently lives in Keedysville, Maryland with his wife and two children.

After graduating from The Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Visual

Communications. His professional career has been broad reaching, from nationally recognized commercial Illustrator, to prolific fine artist and respected art educator. As a freelance illustrator and designer since college he has worked for many of the largest corporate, institutional and editorial clients nation wide. Some of his clients have included: The Atlantic Monthly, Business Week, U.S.News & World Report, Newsweek, Fortune, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times,Men’s Journal, Money magazine, Smart Money, Popular Science, Business 2.0, Continental Airlines, The Discovery Channel, Harvard University, and Columbia University, to name a few.

His artwork has been exhibited extensively both locally and nationally, including The Bertaux Gallery, Baltimore MD, the Fleckenstein Gallery, Towson MD, Mary Condon Hodgson Gallery, Frederick MD, The Delaplaine Visual Art Center, Frederick MD, The Washington County Museum of Fine Art, Hagerstown MD, National Illustrators Invitational Exhibition at The Pennsylvania School of Art and Design, Lancaster PA, The Chî Gallery, Brooklyn NY, and at the prestigious Society of Illustrators in New York City.

His gallery work ranges from drawing, painting, collage/mixed media to assemblage and alternative photography and digital fine art.

He is an adjunct professor at Frederick Community College and at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. Before that He was an adjunct at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD.

 

Artist Statement

The goal of my work is to tell a story. It will not be the same story to everyone, as each viewer brings their story. I always considered myself a painter who combines painting, collage and assemblage with contemporary concepts. Though I normally begin a piece with an idea in mind or “end vision”, the process itself is often intuitive, allowing me to be led in unexpected directions. In this sense I feel a kinship with Dada, and Surrealist artists and poets.

Juxtaposing seemingly incongruous images to create new, sometimes odd, relationships. My work is often about memories and evoke a deep love of history and a sense of space and place, family and heritage. It is narrative in nature, but what I want most is that they initiate a dialogue with the viewer. Force the viewer to engage the piece and allow his or her own history to be reflected in it. I have also lately been exploring the realm of abstraction, yet I still attempt to maintain a narrative component through the use of words and bits of imagery.

jbohlander@Comcast.net   •  240.344.3349  •  Facebook page