Bob Horan
A falling knife has no handle.
-Bob Horan’s quote to work by
At first glance you may look at Bob Horan’s work and think to yourself, “Holy shit that’s a lot…. like A LOT!”
Though that may be what you find so endearing about his work.
What makes you want to sit back and look at it for hours. Discovering all the tiny details, all the stories his work can tell throughout segments of composition. In a sort of detailed recklessness, Bob utilizes a combination of fine line work and the organic nature of wet ink to create scenes he says,
“look at the balance of man, nature, joy, and death.”
Bob's art emphasizes contrast. From colors used to subject matter, evoking imagery of classic Americana and often featuring recurring characters and landscapes. His subjects seem to move through worlds both familiar, yet unsettling at times. Challenging us to think more deeply about where we, as Americans, have come from, while also questioning whether our perception and acceptance of the weirdness that surrounds us is keeping us from an openness to new possibilities.
Drawing inspiration from artists such as Ralph Steadman, Mark Maggiori, and Francis Bacon, as well as a love of classic “Spaghetti Westerns”. With Steadman’s work, there is an undercurrent of restlessness and foreboding to which he adds bright, almost cheery splats of color. And his shared love of the romanticized southwest echoes Maggiori, while also alluding to themes of a more scientific, pragmatic view of the surrounding world ala Bacon.
If you find yourself inspired by Horan’s work, take some of his advice and ask yourself if you are absorbing art in forms that you don’t practice in. If there’s something you find yourself inspired by, get behind the scenes. Look at it from the perspective of not only similar two-dimensional mediums, but maybe films, mixed media, and audio symphonies.
Like Bob’s cowboys who roam a vast, open expanse, experiencing a freedom of movement and action, invest in a space where you feel free to create and explore the possibilities that lie within your own landscape and ring true with those ideals and dreams that fill you with passion. In the wise words of Bob,
“study films instead of drawings”
to explore different perspectives, particularly from others’ like Sergio Leone’s work that dramatically changed the tone and narrative of the western genre. In other words, make your mark. Don’t only think about what you’re going to do. Don’t talk to others about what you’re going to do. Don’t sit on inspiration—thinking about what you could do.
