Greg Bogin’s canvases are big expanses of color, gradient, luminous, cheerful, and at times, confounding. They seem inspired by radiance and air, they also read like sculpture, outlining, cutting through and confining space. The eye follows the intensities of the colors, subtle shifts in the gradients, while the surfaces hearken back to memories of surfboards or custom cars of the quintessential Southern California pop movement. 



But…Greg Bogin is a New Yorker…the work made in his Brooklyn studio is painstakingly crafted by hand. Conceived in grit, the works begin evincing little flaws in the surfaces that at first appear pristine. These flaws are fully embraced, a reminder of the humanity behind the object. There are forms, that may conjure weightlessness; drifting and evanescence, but are in fact determinate. And there are “holes” within the paintings that expose the blank wall underneath. Their presence brings one back to a certain reality. It is as if the appearance of weightlessness requires an underpinning of structure and heft. 



Greg Bogin’s early influences are a mix of Abstract painting, Minimalism, and Pop art. His inspirations are as varied as retro Sci Fi, bicycle road racing graphics, a passing truck or a super market or art history. Bogin considers himself to be primarily an abstract painter but his work often evades convenient labels.

Of his interest in abstract painting, he says “One of the things that draws me to abstraction is the ability to communicate multiple ideas without being literal or specific so in that sense I continue to be an abstractionist, but I do not follow a dogma and work by instinct”. Bogin’s colored, shaped abstract works evoke a sense of joy, happiness, and optimism with a touch of irony. He has said “I make work that makes me happy, and provides a break or a moment of reflection”. In a time of social and political turbulence is it permissible to make joyful, lovingly crafted objects. Is it ethical? Relevant? What does it mean? The retort could be that the optimism conveyed in Bogin’s work can be construed as radical in the face of malignant forces and upheaval in the world. This optimism is rational, one based on work, process and diligence that looks to the future with joy not because of a fool’s errand, but because in spite of everything, the only solution evident is to work towards it.



Born in NYC in 1965, Bogin received a BFA from Cooper Union in 1987. He has had numerous international exhibitions, including at Marlborough Contemporary, in New York and London, at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, at Leo Koenig in New York, at the Museum für konkrete Kunst in Ingolstadt, at the Mary Boone Gallery in New York, at the Aldrich Museum for Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Paolo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co in Milan, Neues Museum Nuremberg, Galerie Jablonka in Cologne and the Daimler Art Collection in Stuttgart, to name but a few.