John Brinton Hogan, a San Diego native, is having his first local solo exhibition titled “Brightest Beacons, Blindest Eyes.” The exhibition features a series of his works that blurs the boundaries between painting and photography. His blending of the two mediums combined with his interest in the nature and landscapes of the American West have produced spectacular pieces definitely worth checking out.

Every one of his works featured in the exhibit are mixed media on paper, in which Hogan transforms original photographic images of his by using tedious and extremely detailed mixed media applications and thorough manipulation of the printing process. The photographs he used as the foundation of his pieces show people throughout the Western landscape, either hanging out recreationally or participating in environment-conscious activities like searching for endangered species, examining cacti, or removing invasive plants. The photographs are then changed so that the landscapes are much more vivid, presented in vibrant colors. The shapes of the human figures are altered so that they show only the people’s silhouettes, oozing in rich hues or sparkling with glitter.

The results are mysterious and at times, eerie images of the beautiful desert scenery. Some scenes portrayed in his photographs include the Palm Verde Mountains, the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Preserve, and the Mojave National Preserve. Hogan’s distortion of the desert landscape makes for an otherworldly experience seen through his work.

Hogan’s artwork is in the collection of the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona. In the past, Hogan has participated in exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Imperial Valley Desert Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum, and various others. Internationally, Hogan’s artwork has been exhibited all over the world, including Tijuana, Tokyo, Copenhagen, the Netherlands. While Hogan’s work is currently featured in the Museum of Photographic Arts located in San Diego’s Balboa Park, this will be the first time in San Diego that he will be exhibiting solo.