Peter Jogo's Prints of Indulgence

Okay, I am gonna say it. It isn’t fair! Man, how does Peter Jogo do it? The guy’s work is outstanding, even in a field of outstandingly great printmakers. The richness of his textures, and lights and darks, and the close-up way he gets to a still life subject, and then the way he pans back down a small town night time street scene – with the lone street light illuminating the composition. Well, it can make even a veteran printmaker want to cry.

I was enthralled with his Monopoly player pieces, but I truly love his landscapes and their skies. The work translates superbly in black and white, and in color. It’s a good thing he doesn’t do painting, because landscape painters would commit harikari.

Jogo understands his subjects well, and has a real feel for the landscape found in Pennsylvania. It is quiet, reflective and peaceful. The night time scenes accurately portray the life in a small town and one can imagine that the crickets are humming in the shadows. These small print indulgences are treasures in time, and serenity.

Jogo’s prints capture the silence and stillness in both rural and urban landscapes. Many of the settings for his night time landscapes is the town where he lives in Pennsylvania. With his masterful use of subtle tones, set against strong, deep shadows, this artist develops his evocative, velvety black compositions. No matter the setting, Jogo's prints create inviting spaces for us to pause and reflect.

The same is true for his uniquely intriguing micro prints of Monopoly boards and pieces. These prints sing with assurance and masterful technical prowess. The close ups on these pieces are stunningly real and the pieces’ cast reflections onto the Monopoly board are terrific. Truly, the artist is reveling in his craft. It is dumbfounding how well these pieces are portrayed. We should all strive to find more of Jogo’s work online and in galleries. He is out there, and any of his works would be a gem for your print collection.

Peter Jogo was born in Deposit, New York, (a small town east of Binghamton, NY). He studied first at the State University of New York at Albany, then went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University. He currently lives and works in Pennsylvania.

Jogo has received several awards, namely a Strathmore Award for Watercolor Excellence from the Butler Institute of American Art, purchase awards from the Pratt Graphics Center, DeCordova Museum, North Carolina Print and Drawing Society, the Print Club of Philadelphia, and the University of Wisconsin.