The Medium as Epiphany

John Lohse at Manhattan Motors


On December 14, 2000, John Lohse achieved his apotheosis at the Manhattan Motors showroom in Chelsea. There he unveiled his supreme achievement.

A few years back, at one of the ASCI members meetings, Lohse mesmerized all who saw his slide presentation of oil paintings. Everyone admired the sincerity of his effort, but no one could foresee the connection he would make between art and science.

Why did Lohse believe the aspirations of an abstract painter were relevant to ASCI? Finally, we can behold the consummation of his vision. He has replaced his traditional media of canvas and pigment with the most technologically advanced media any ASCI member might dream of: a computer scanned skin on the surface of a new Porsche.

There is a significant history of artist's cars; one thinks of the "Hoop mobile," or Eric Staller's "Lightmobile," among others. Entering this genre, John Lohse has finally found his niche and, with this new medium, transcended it. A detail scanned from his painted canvas, magnified hundreds of times, printed on a plastic film, and applied to the surface of a Porsche, succeeded brilliantly. The enchanted collector drove out of the showroom with the original painting in the back seat, amid cheers from the throng of art lovers assembled in the Manhattan Motors showroom on 11th Ave. and 28th street.



Flash Light
artist, NYC
lightart@flash.net