Studio Visit: Bob Dob, Part 2

Bob Dob just had the opening reception for his exhibit “The Mouseketeer Army” at La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, so it’s finally alright for me to leak a ton of awesome pictures I nabbed while I was at his studio. If you’ve kept up with the story, then you’ll remember that in part 1 of my visit with Bob, I only hinted a little bit as to what the big picture of what he was working on, which I can now reveal to be an American flag composed of 76 individual paintings. The entire piece, as a whole, took Bob roughly a year to complete and I really got to see it come together as I would visit off and on throughout the process.

For example, when I first came his studio the washes of the the stars and stripes that serve as the background for the over-arching piece had just begun and the individual paintings were all primarily in the sketch phase. Then, by my second visit, which I did with the artist Lyndsey Lesh, Bob Dob’s process of underpainting each piece was well underway. Even by this point though, the mock-ups for his life-size “Louie” figures (1 + 2) were totally kept secret.

By the end, it was incredible to see the work as a whole (here), since it was really a complete concept from beginning to end and especially arrived at the heightened topical time of the presidential election. Literal “potheads” [people with pots for heads] are drinking the “Kool Aid” and the world is at war with one another. It’s the Yippies vs the Mouseketeers. It’s the cruelty of reality vs. the romance of fiction.

Check our coverage of the opening with photos from Cindy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signing Out,

Daniel Rolnik