BOE – No condition is permanent

BOE is part of the design studio Via Grafik which was formed as a graffiti collective in the late nineties. The group has been one of the first German crews which even back then was known for establishing abstract works within a writing context.

In the bluish zine you can find experimental pieces which, although forms, shapes and letters appear abstract, are still readable. The pieces, which have been painted in Germany in between 2010 and 2019, are set on a plane, most often gray, background and seem to have exact the same aspect ratio. Blue, yellow, white and red are the main colors BOE did chose for them.

The beige-brown colored zine however unites several photographs from the last 15 years, many of them taken on journeys. During trips to Russia, Georgia, Czech, UK, Belgium, Greece, France, Switzerland or Italy BOE captured curious objects and odd situations which instantly inspired or at least attracted the artists attention.

The reddish one seems to be a symbiosis of the before mentioned booklets. New techniques, ideas and influences took over in the shown motives, while the unique aspect ratio has been kept in most works. The zine shows artworks which might remind you of pieces in the first place, but letter shapes have completely been decomposed into patterns, detailed dot or line work or mosaic-like shapes. Although each work can be perceived solely, the zines give them a framing context and fit them into a ever evolving series of abstraction which still contains a touch of graffiti after all.

“No condition is permanent” consists of three 28 paged zines, each with a risograph printed cover. The set was released to the occasion of the exhibition CREAM & BOE – BOE & CREAM as a limited edition of 100 copies each.

3 x 28 pages (84 pages total), 17,9 x 23,5 cm, set of 3 zines, risoprinted cover, 100 copies
Language: German
Release date: November 2019
Publisher: Hitzerot