Wes Hempel’s work is provocative in the best sense of the word: One can not see his paintings without responding. While his technique and palette are truly brilliant, his messages are complex, intriguing and portable. “I attempt to create narrative paintings that function in a revisionist manner, commenting on contemporary culture,” he says. “The benefits of science, technology, medicine, art, etc., are an enormous gift. Yet what we lose is the enchantment of a world we confront on our own, directly, without its meaning being determined for us by the thoughts of others also seems valuable.”
Intertwining mythology, realism, and whimsy, Hempel manages to transcend stereotypes with subtle humor and a strong sense of ambiguity. He doesn’t beat us over the head with his message; he let’s us interpret what we see. For instance, his powerfully masculine figures will often have a tinge of doubt or despair in the eyes. Why are these heroic men so sad or afraid? With gargantuan clouds or heavenly backdrops, the figure in the foreground will be doing some idle task like building a house of cards.
There is an overt eroticism in the casual, almost neglectful poses of his often-nude, male figures, but the intellectual themes save the work from being mere eye-candy. Even his landscapes undulate in crisp detail, presenting obvious meaning, but calling upon the viewer to determine for him/herself its personal relevance.
For example, in his 2005 oil-on-canvas, Tunnel of Love, a male figure in work-out clothes stands before a classic double statue of a scantily draped man and woman. The female figure is pouring wine for the man. The pedestal bears a quote from Blaise Pascal, “Le Coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connoit pas.” (The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.) The athlete in the foreground is wiping his face with his tee-shirt. Is he weeping or just drying the sweat from his brow? There is an ocean in the background. Is that an ocean of tears or a reminder that human affairs are pretty insignificant in the big picture?
His landscapes and figure painting almost always have a path or directional gaze that draws the viewer toward its focus. “I’m always thinking of a way through,” says the artist of his own creative struggles and admits that this constant search is reflected in his work.
And there is eclectic humor! In Salvage Run, 2005, a young man in a business suit is paddling a dugout canoe with a spaniel in the bow and a headless, crouching statue as the passenger. The young man has a kind of puzzled look on his face replicating our own bemusement. In another (Dialectic Adjustment, 2001), two bound, shirtless, shoeless adult men with looks of exasperation on their faces are being observed by two bored- looking boys waiting for something interesting to happen. The social comment of the relative wisdom of adults and children brought a smile to my face.
There is great pathos in this work as well. In The Cancelled Rescue Mission, 1997, three dispersed figures are caught between a lush forest and a very dead tree. There is lingering tragedy inherent in the image. In The Children's Secret, 1997, three young figures watch a dark storm cloud approaching with their backs to the viewer. They stand on a great flat piece of tree stump … or is it firewood … or is it a chopping block …?
Heavily influenced by the painters of the Dutch Golden Age such as Antonis van Dyke and Johannes Vermeer, some of Hempel’s recent works on paper have these great masters gazing from the background almost in judgment of the foreground figure and the painter doing the portrait. Sometimes his work is “Like an act of worship,” says Hempel.
He continues to be a student of art often spending his afternoons in the art library stacks. “I like to imagine what art history might look like if gays had not been vilified. What would art history look like then?” A good question from a great contemporary artist.
Educated at Cal State Northridge and CU Boulder, Hempel has won awards for his painting AND his writing. “I still consider myself a writer, but the painting has hijacked me,” he said in our interview. “The non-verbal aspect of painting appeals to me, the idea of entering into an image without having words, at least initially, to explain what's going on.”
Hempel credits his long-time partner, Jack Balas, as his “untiring mentor”; while each is an artist in his own right, Balas and Hempel have collaborated on several pieces and inevitably discuss art at the breakfast table. Hempel also credits his galleries, including the Robischon Gallery here in Denver, for being “top-notch professionals” in showing his work. Hempel’s paintings are part of the Denver Museum of Art’s permanent collection and can be seen at Robischon for purchase. Many of his pieces, including the ones mentioned in this article, can be viewed at Hempel’s website http://www.weshempel.com. M