'Animals in Negative Space: Polar Bear' By George Bokhua

'Animals in Negative Space: Polar Bear' By George Bokhua

Category: Economy and Minimalism

George Bokhua is an illustrator and graphic designer known for his minimalistic and simple work. Bokhua doesn’t generate his work in the usual way as he uses ‘negative space’ to create effective pieces. When people think of Minimal art they tend to think that is implies “a simplication of technique” (25), Bokhua’s work is far from a simple technique. An understanding of “negative space helps define a subject, and brings balance to a composition” (26). As you can see in the image above, the actual shape (the positive space) painted on the canvas is in black, this could just be a simple blob of paint, but Bokhua has used ‘negative space’; leading the white from the background into the black shape to create the head of a polar bear. This builds the black shape into an actual image. ‘Negative space’ isn’t usually the focal point of an image however it “can actually be used as the main subject in a composition” (27) it can “take on an identifiable shape defined by its surrounding positive space” (28) and this is what Bokhua has done in the image above.

Bokhua’s work proves that Minimalism is not always as simple as it looks; it is a “strategic game with potential positions to be occupied, is to assume a structuralist understanding of an artist’s work as the embodiment of a logic or systematicity” (29) approach. It is clear that Bokhua’s work appears simple to the eye as it is just a few shapes on the canvas, nevertheless his work is created “not at the expense of complexity: simplicity of form did not mean simplicity of effect.”(30) He has created a piece of work that is intriguing to the eye and intricate to the mind whilst keeping it as a minimal art form.

References:
(25) Meyer. J (2001) Page 85
(26) Leggett. D (2008)
(27) Leggett. D (2008)
(28) Leggett. D (2008)
(29) Meyer. J (2001) Page 4
(30) Meyer. J (2001) Page 90