Gallery jENSEITS - Introducing: David Kohl's What It Feels Like

The exhibition What It Feels Like brings together a selection of works by David Kohl, inviting viewers to engage with paintings that are at once deeply personal and universally familiar. Working primarily in acrylic, pastel, chalk, and mixed media on canvas and paper, Kohl paints what he describes as “the emotions and distortions in life.”

His subjects are drawn from ordinary experience, from a lecture at a community center, people waiting at a bus stop, workers at a coal mine, moments of quiet vulnerability, perseverance, uncertainty, and hope. These are not simply illustrations of everyday life; they are emotional interpretations of the human experience.

Between 2003 and 2023, life presented unexpected challenges that led Kohl to concentrate on family while working largely within the confines of his home and studio. During this deeply personal period, he produced a remarkable body of work that reflects resilience, compassion, and careful observation. The paintings created during these years reveal an artist less interested in documenting appearances than in expressing what life feels like beneath the surface.

Whether depicting the quiet tension of Stressed, the dignity of Miner – S.E. Ohio, or the profound empathy suggested in People Want to Help a Person That’s Drowning in Life, Kohl reminds us that the most meaningful works of art are those that resonate emotionally long after we have left the gallery.

As he has often said, “Education, shows, awards mean little if a person doesn’t have an emotional attachment to the artwork.”

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