Kim Cogan

"Entrance"  42" x 32"  oil on canvas  2012

"Surf Motel"  48" x 60"  oil on canvas  2012

"Third Rail"  36" x 48"  oil on canvas   2011

"Bender"  20" x 20"  oil on canvas  2012

"Wave no. 18"  32" x 50"  oil on wood panel  2012

I've been a fan of Kim Cogan's work for a while now. His night scenes especially appeal to me. Well, all night scenes do, I suppose, but he has an unerring ability to capture the mood of the competing colors of various light sources. Anyone who has ever stood alone among the shadows at night observing the dramatic effect will feel drawn into these paintings as if they were somehow part of their own memories. But all of his work is compelling. The mix of careful realism delivered with loose expressive brushwork gives each piece an atmosphere more compelling (for me anyway) than any carefully executed hyper-realism. His series of wave paintings are from an artist who is deeply familiar with the way the ocean moves and breaks along the shore. I'm pretty sure I heard or saw somewhere that he is an avid surfer, which would certainly explain the intimacy of these pieces. Aside from the wave series, the vast majority of his work is about cities. Although he does include figures some of his paintings, they are more frequently about lonely streets devoid of people. Cities are of course are the most densely populated places on the planet. But there are always moments and small out of the way places where the crowds vanish and one is filled with a unique kind of loneliness that is not without it's own rewards. It is unique aspect of city life that Kim Cogan captures perfectly.
I encourage you to take the time looking through all of his work on his website:
www.kimcogan.com
If you happen to be in New York go see his work at Gallery Henoch,
and if you're in San Francisco head over to Hespe Gallery