June 25th I will be throwing a closing party at LOCAL PROJECT, 45-10 Davis St Long Island City, localproject.org .

Party will be from 6-9 , come by for some art and wine and beer

I encourage anyone who wants to see these paintings, the large relief paintings, to come by and check them out.

Please let me know if you are attending or not so I can have your gift/reward awaiting for you. For those unable to attend please send a mail / delivery address so I can get you it to you. 

Thanks again everyone. If you want to see some pictures of the show go to behogan.tumblr.com/

Hope to see you at the show

BeH

The opening party on June 11th will be from 6-9. 

Local Project Gallery 45-10 Davis St Long Island City

Near the G , 7 , E, M trains

As most of you this is a dual show.

1- It is about the completion of this phase of my project Today New York. I will be showing the final work and supporting pieces that lead up to it's completion

2- It is also about teaching my young students about the way I see and interpret the world. They have been learning about building complex art pieces out of simple shapes, based on observing their surroundings.

This means I am having two parties for the show. On June 11th I will be celebrating the accomplishments of my students portion of the show. Though the show will be installed in full.

On June 25th I will have a second party for the closing which will be about thanking all of you for your support. I will also be handing out rewards at that time, which I am looking forward to doing in person. Though I can mail them to you too or deliver them.

Please come out and celebrate the work that you have helped support.

Brian

I apologize to people on my mailing list if you get more then one email about this

Hello Again to all my friends and supporters

It’s been a very busy while since you all have heard from me and I would like to update everyone on what has been going on.

First, I set up a show that will open June 11th in Long Island City at Local Projects Gallery Space, right across from PS1 in the 5 Pointz building. They offered me a solo show to hang this project along with supporting work I created and photographs documenting the process.  This is the show I have been waiting to set up, where we can have the whole space to have a party to celebrate the completion of this phase of the project.

For the show I have actually expanded on the original idea. As many of you know I teach young students art classes in Long Island City on the weekends. So this Spring I thought the student about my artwork and about observing their surroundings and interpreting them abstractly, skills I use all the time.  So this show is actually going to be my work (project) as well as my students work based on these lessons.  I thought this was an interesting idea/experiment to try out where I can share multiple perspectives on what I do. So I will show a couple different versions of relief painting, photos, drawings and then these young artist interpretations to round it all out.

There will be an opening June11th but there will also be a closing party. The opening everyone will be invited to but will have more focus on the students because it also marks the end of class and then the for closing party it will focus on my work and be to celebrate all of you wonderful people that helped my progress. That will be June 25th. For the June 25th party I will be handing out all the rewards that you all deserve for your wonderful sponsoring (for those that are unable to make it I will be happy to mail or deliver your reward to you, that is not a problem).

I would like to apologize for the long time between updates and getting the rewards out. Since the last I have participated in 5 shows and with each one I have been developing the painting and which each time I have shown it I have gotten closer and closer to my vision for what I wanted this painting to achieve. It’s been a long road of discovery and setbacks but I have learned a lot in the process. Thanks again for all of you that have helped on that journey. 

In an ideal world I would have only dedicated myself to this one project until it’s completion but we all know things are far from ideal so besides for this work I have had to take a number of other projects to keep things going. But that is okay because everything seems to be working out in the end.  With all this other work I started it had gotten in the way of all the nice things that I promised you all. For that I apologize but I also wanted to make sure everyone was getting a piece of my best work, nothing second rate, so I was unsatisfied with some of the early pieces I made and am much happier with the second generation of rewards. Think you all will be too.

So thank you again, I hope you all can make it out and I will send out another update with an invite for the show. Please save the dates and if you can make one or the other or cannot make it at all please let me know

Brian

Photo: In the Studio July 2010: Jesse Koechling

Hi everyone.
I am going to be taking part in a group show exhibiting an installation of my painting. The install will be different then what you have seen, it will span multiple walls to interact with the space. I am excited to be showing it in a new way. If you would like more info on the show and the opening, which is June 11th, click here: http://www.nurtureart.org/ga/event_preview.php.... The gallery is NURTUREart, which is a Brooklyn none profit. They show good work and am happy to exhibit this painting with them .
I am still on the hunt to setting up a show that shows this painting proper and can also include the supporting material, and I don't think that is far off. Until then it is nice to share your work when ever you can. Hope some of you can make it out to see all the work in person.

Brian

ps: As I promised, when I found a place o show the painting I would start to send out the pledge rewards. I will collect everyone's information this month and send everything out in July. Thank you for your patients and support.

The first photo is of the most recent progress photograph, taken about 2 weeks. I hope to have the painting finished sometime in early April. After that I will start to send out the pledge rewards. For now I am shopping it around to find a few venues in which I can show it. The response has been great and I hope to finalize something soon.
The photos of me working are from late January and where taken by Jesse Koechling, a Brooklyn photographer. He has been traveling to the studio to document the whole process, which I will post on my website upon completion. I think the photos are beautiful and really get a sense on how cold it was out there this winter.
Thanks again for all your support and I hope you are pleased with the results.

Brian

Here are the most recent photos, taken about a week ago.

B

With the composition this far along I am going to start applying the paint this week. As I develop the palette and add the color I will also be adding more panels. Expect the piece to get more filled out and dense in areas as it moves towards completion. There are about 1/2 the panels on the wall now that completed work will have.
-B

Recently I was interviewed for an article by Renee Phillips, founder and director of Manhattan Arts International, on my success with KickStarter. The interview is for the upcoming Feb issue of Art Calendar magazine, which I will let you know when it is out. If you are interested before then check out Renee's blog, http://reneephillips.blogspot.com/2009/12/kickstarter-jump-starts-funding-for.html , for an excerpt.
Renee does some interesting work in helping artist with career side of their business. I definitely suggest her blog for all us artist trying to make a career out of the work we love to do.
Thanks Renee for focusing on my project

Brian

Here is the first update on my progress, it will be brief and mostly photos. A more thorough update will be posted in the next couple of days (along with the pledge reward schedule, I haven't forgotten about any of you wonderful people)
I am in the first stage of construction, which is building the panels to paint on and developing the composition. Been building for about 2 and half weeks and am making great progress. My goal is to start painting the panels with in the next two weeks. During the painting I will be continuing to add on more panels throughout the process until it's complete.
I am running on a tight schedule to complete the construction and begin the painting so I stay on budget. (This is one reason for me getting behind on my updates) I have had a couple set backs so far and will share those with you in the next update.
The project is going very well otherwise and would love any comments/ questions that you have. I hope my idea and vision is becoming more clear for everyone with this update.

Happy New Year
Brian

A big Thank You again to everyone that has made this successful and for the people that are continuing to donate. Your efforts will contribute to a fantastic result
After the holiday you all be receiving emails from me individually to inform you of the pledge gift distribution schedule, as well as requesting addresses and other information I need to get the thank you gifts to you. So stay tuned in and don't be worried, I haven't forgotten about anyone. Some items will take longer then others of course but I will do my best to keep you updated on the progress. You can always email me with questions if you like.
Everyone have a happy holiday and we will be talking very soon in early next year.

Brian

Thanks everyone we did it, the goal has been met. With still a few hours to go there is still an opportunity for folks to become a part of the project and get a good deal on some great artwork. I will send some follow ups later today once the project ends, right now I am pulling a chair up to the drafting table and getting straight to work. There will be many more updates to follow with my progress, stay tuned.

Brian

And 5% more to raise, my goal is so close I can smell the enamel. Now the time is winding down for anyone else that may want to be part of this great project. If you know these people encourage them to do it soon or else they will lose their chance to be involved. Around 80 people have stepped up so far, can we make 100? We'll see with about 20 hours to go.
Keep spreading the word.

Brian

I wanted to take a moment and post a special Thank You from a special backer. My younger brother Sgt Dan Hogan who is over in Afghanistan as of right now put in the extra effort to make sure I received a sizable donation to my project before the deadline. It means a lot coming from him because he definitely has a lot more on his mind then the art work I am creating. So THANK YOU VERY MUCH Dan!, be safe, and get back here soon.

B

I wanted to put out there the list of People that have donated to my project by check or cash. As more pledges flow in this way over the next week I will update this update to make sure that everyone that has donated is represented. You're all the best!

Mickalene Thomas
Nancy & Sim Broughton
John Reardon
The Bulington Drake Trust
Valentine Amarty
Peter Mulliken
Kevin and MaryAnne Hogan
Sgt. Dan Hogan
Mike Devigne a.k.a. GuitarBomb
Joan and Rob Burke
Megan McAllister-Hogan
Joan and Gerard Hogan
Monica Hayes
Peter Surace
C. Koechling

As most of you have noticed time is running short on hitting my goal, but don’t panic I have a few cards left to play and I am extremely confident that we will hit our goal.

Everyone keep up the good work in spreading my idea around and directing new backers to my project. If all of you can bring in 2-3 more people for a ten dollar pledge that would be huge. I have a list of people I am going to be asking to donate just ten dollars as well but with your help I can extend my reach even further. Ten dollars really is not much to ask either. It’s the price of a sandwich in Manhattan and the price of a sandwich and chips on Long Island. With just a little push we can do this.

Thanks again for all of your help, it’s a great feeling to have the support of my friends, family, peers and the art community in achieving my goal. I look forward to creating this painting in full for everyone to enjoy.

Brian