Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary--Paintings and Works on Paper

Conclusion

Conclusion It’s tempting to see Alexandre Hogue’s art as germane to current art world practices. Affinities with new art give his work some parochial currency, but its larger significance has to do with a general desire for authentic expression. Hogue’s choice to pursue his own path, to quit the city, to paint what he wanted, not what the market dictated, certainly plays into the popular notion of the artist indifferent to art world machinations, working in isolation and obscurity. Hogue, however, reminds us what it means not only to live a life richly, but also to make art for its own sake, out of inner vision and necessity. It’s precisely this quality of desperation, of hanging on by one’s fingernails , that gives Hogue’s work its continued resonance. To face one of his paintings or drawings is to open vast areas of feeling that challenge us to recognize something about nature, about ourselves. Indeed, a profound artist changes our lives and freely gives myriad aspirations and consciousness. Wishing to function where art and life intersect, Hogue shows us that the structure and poetics of vision can merge in a kind of reverence or wonder. Perhaps Hogue saw in nature a metaphysical dimension, untouched by our own physical frailty. His fervor is still pertinent, even jarring in its passion to celebrate nature with an almost mystical conviction. For this reason, Hogue’s art is visionary in the broadest sense: reflecting on beginnings and endings, and how we get from one to the other. ...