Artist. Educator.
Paul Loehle
is a native of the Cincinnati area; he received his MFA in Painting from the University of Cincinnati in 2009 and his MA – Art Education in 2011. Loehle’s work has always been heavily influenced by painterly realism and the human figure, and his current body of work explores the relationship of traditional media and methods to the ephemeral worlds of amateur digital photography and social networking phenomena like Facebook. His work has been shown in such venues around the Cincinnati area as Manifest Creative Research and Drawing Center, Bromwell’s Gallery, The Carnegie, and the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Hamilton. Additionally, Loehle’s work was displayed in the Contemporary Realism Biennial at the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art (2010). Loehle has taught Life Drawing at UC as a graduate student and foundations drawing at Miami University, Oxford as an adjunct instructor. He has also taught painting at Chatfield College and foundations courses at The Art Institute of Ohio – Cincinnati. He has worked with Artworks Cincinnati leading mural projects for the past 8 Summers, and he currently teaches Art at Hamilton High School.
Studio Art
Through the process of meticulously recreating the social networking profile pictures of anonymous individuals in the traditional medium of pastel, Loehle raises each hasty and disposable snapshot to the status of “High Art.” This juxtaposition reflects the narcissism of the subject and simultaneously calls Loehle’s own vanity into question, creating a two-way mirror for artist and subject. As he edits his sub - jects and their contexts in ways ranging from the subtle to the ab - surd, he creates vague references to popular culture and Art History alike, while calling into question the power of the photograph to both reveal and conceal reality.
Headshot photo courtesy of Bergette Photography