Hogan Brown was born in London in 1966. He comes from an artistic family which encompassed painting, writing, illustration, film making, and print making. After working on the Thames Rver, Eel Pie Island in London renovating vintage boats he studied Fine Art at Middlesex University, London, since then he has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows throughout Europe, Asia, North America and South America.
Hogan’s inspiration comes from places he visits, a structure driven past, a house or hotel stayed in, a figure glimpsed, or a shadow in a room.
Explaining this process Hogan says:
“The work incorporating the Berlin series of paintings came about after making multiple visits to the city over the last eight years. I was inspired by the architecture, wide city landscapes, and history of the former East Berlin where I was staying; backdrops I felt were sympathetic to the themes of my paintings. In the painting Berlin Concourse for example, I find beauty in the concrete buildings shadows and hues, and the introduction of the single figure I hope introduces an enigmatic, filmic, narrative to the viewer, which recurs in other paintings. In my work I am trying to evoke a subtle, tenuous mood. Being open ended in sense and interpretation is something I strive for”
Using traditional techniques of drawing and painting. His works contain mysterious and anonymous figures in what can seem like stark environments, yet a covert narrative emerges from the canvas. Interior paintings are mainly a glimpse of a larger environment, the side of a bed, a single chair, again a single figure. The viewer is being asked what is happening in the parts of the room they do not see. Exterior paintings follow a similar path. Depictions of an observation tower, a shelter, a control tower, a figure, a dog, an outpost, or a hinterland, are all part of an implied narrative of the themes that fascinate him. Hogan lives and works in East London with his partner and cat.