Arcadia Contemporary | 6/13-7/7 | New York, NY

Portraits of Love’s Demise

Heartbreak is timeless in Aaron Westerberg’s new paintings

By Meg Daly

In a series of new paintings, Aaron Westerberg plumbs the depths of a breakup and shows the vulnerability of the newly heartbroken. The show, titled Afterthought, opens June 13 at Arcadia Contemporary, with an artist reception from 5 to 8 p.m.

Westerberg says the subject of the paintings is autobiographical. He recently went through a tough breakup and his heart spilled out on the canvas. The result is a series of tableaux featuring a man and a woman delicately, painfully pulling apart. Echoing the style of his hero John Singer Sargent, Westerberg renders his subjects in turn-of-the-19th-century clothing. The couple occupy private corners of public spaces—a train seat, a small cafe table. Westerberg’s mood may be nostalgic, but there’s an edge of the contemporary in his paintings, too. The scenes of quiet anguish will be familiar to anyone who has ever gone through a breakup.

Intimate Absence, oil on panel, 16 x 16”

Westerberg says the narrative in this show is a new thing for him. In the past, he focused more on color and composition, without necessarily trying to tell a story. But in this new series he has actually limited his palette. “I’m more interested in the story of these paintings,” he says.

In Fleeting Connection, two figures sit at a cafe table, the tension between them nearly palpable. Eyes downcast, color high on their cheeks, they appear to be caught in that moment when the painful thing has been said: “This isn’t working.” And yet they cannot yet pull away from one another. The blacks, greens and flashes of pink highlight the emotional content of the image.

Last Note depicts a man alone at a cafe reading a goodbye letter. Again, muted blacks, grays and greens create a backdrop for the focus of the painting—the figure’s flushed cheeks and reddened eyelids. So much conveyed in a few strokes of color.

Despite Gilded Age motifs, Westerberg says the paintings are based in the current day. “I like that 19th-century look,” he says. “I like the way it frames the faces.”

Fleeting Connection, oil on panel, 24 x 24"

It’s not just a style he likes in his paintings; it’s the sensibility he brings to his entire life. “I like gloomy weather, scarves and moody period pieces,” says the artist. “He would fit right in at a French café in 1910, sketching couples huddled over cups of tea, falling in and out of love.

His appreciation for the aesthetics of the time period gives him a facility with devices like the silhouette. “I like the simplicity of it,” he says. “I work with backgrounds the same way by framing the couples, using strong diagonals and sometimes horizontals.” He says these compositional elements help tell the story within the paintings.

Last Note, oil on panel, 18 x 18"

Are scenes from a breakup something collectors want on their walls? Westerberg says yes. “People relate to what’s going on,” he says. “One collector bought a painting of a couple in a rough conversation. They loved it.

“The universal gravitas of the work is its power,” Westerberg continues. “We’ve all been through that torment. I think people want to share those moments that are true, not fluffy or made up. We want stories where people have gone through something difficult and come through with more resiliency.”

Resolve, oil on panel, 30 x 30"

Goodbye, oil on panel, 24 x 24"

The painting Resolve illustrates a newly single woman’s tenacity. Her arms crossed, she has made up her mind. But the look on her face is not one of anger or resentment. Instead her eyes speak of a gentle knowingness. She’s made the right decision for herself and she is ready for her next chapter.

Or at least that is one way of seeing it. The paintings in this show are not meant to be viewed in a straight timeline. Some feature the same female figure looking desolate and lonely. Others feature the male figure alone in his own heartbreak. Still others show the couple together—but not necessarily in earlier happier times. Taken as a whole, Westerberg’s is a story told in fragments, highlighting moments of emotional poignancy. They work like memory itself, focusing on key moments and letting the rest recede into the background.

Bound, oil on panel, 20 x 20"

Westerberg says his new series reflects his inner growth as well as his growth as an artist. “I feel like I am a more mature painter now, and I have something to say about human emotions.” —

Arcadia Contemporary 421 W. Broadway • New York, NY 10012 • (646) 861-3941 • www.arcadiacontemporary.com