Josh at work in his studio on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield.
Joshua Hogan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his BA from Carlow College (now Carlow University). While at Carlow, he began a series of paintings inspired by his participation in the program Semester at Sea. Traveling to 15 countries, including Egypt, Vietnam, Turkey and Morocco, laid the foundation for the fluid shapes he creates today; a way to visually communicate his own interactions with people as well as the interactions he observes between people.
Today, Hogan describes his process as “painting the air.” He begins with light and atmosphere, building space through color before allowing the shapes to surface within it. The space between those shapes is as important as the shapes themselves: light travels through it, color diffuses across it, and distance is established without conventional perspective. Shapes gather, separate, overlap, and interrupt one another, but atmosphere remains continuous between them.
In this sense, Hogan paints light first and objects second. His shapes are defined by the luminous space that separates and connects them. What began as a visual language for interactions between people has increasingly become an investigation of the space where those interactions occur. As relationships increasingly occur through both physical and digital encounters, Hogan considers what those exchanges might look like if we could see them.
Collections
- PNC Corporate Offices, Pittsburgh, PA (Facilitated by Artists Circle Fine Art)
- The Tower at PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh, PA (Facilitated by Rhonda Goodall)
- Flaherty & O'Hara, Pittsburgh, PA
- PNC Corporate Offices, Pittsburgh, PA (Facilitated by Rhonda Goodall)
- Seton Hill School of Law, Greensburg, PA
- Finding Wings Center for Healing, Paloma Beach, CA
- Doctor Raye J. Budway, Pittsburgh, PA
- The Greater Latrobe Art Conservation Trust, Latrobe, PA
- The Alethea Center, Pittsburgh, PA
- Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA
- Various private residences throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, and France.
In 2001, Hogan opened BoxHeart Gallery in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, where he has exhibited hundreds of regional, national, and international artists while maintaining his own studio. Through IATSE 489 Studio Mechanics Union, he has also worked as a scenic artist and paint charge on film and television productions, including Marvel’s The Avengers.
Hogan’s paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, as well as Art on Paper in New York City, Aqua Art Miami Beach, LA Art Show, and Love Art Toronto. His artwork has appeared in film productions including The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Hogan is represented by The Haen Gallery in Asheville/Brevard, North Carolina, BoxHeart Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and JL Shorr Gallery in Zelienople, Pennsylvania.
Now on exhibit at JL Shorr Gallery, With Bated Breath, August 8th through September 19th, 2026. Join us for the #artsocial on Saturday, August 22nd from 5 - 8pm!
Joshua Hogan on Artsy!