Aaron Westerberg recognizes that his paintings have become darker and more tonal in recent years, something he says stems from his own personal pain coming through in his artwork. Several decades ago he also used to paint this way, but more so because of a lack of color vocabulary, rather than a place of poignancy. “I studied color extensively after that, and I used much more of it in my paintings. I was doing a lot of it just to experiment and push myself, and I learned and grew my vocabulary during that time,” Westerberg says. Nowadays, however, his palette is coming from a place of emotional depth. His recent body of work depicts figures sitting in dimly lit restaurants and cafés, dressed in black suits and deep green dresses with pensive, forlorn expressions on their faces.
Almost, oil, 16 x 16 in.
A Quiet Turning, oil, 24 x 24 in.
“I did a lot of color experiments, but now my color palette is an emotional tool that I use to convey my emotional content,” he says. “The whole goal is to allow the viewer to better interact and understand my works.”As they’re often so narrative in style—a couple having an intimate conversation, a man reading a book, or a woman lost in thought with a cup of coffee—Westerberg is often asked about the stories behind his paintings. Clearly, there’s something going on there, something almost tragic.
Elsewhere, oil, 16 x 16 in.
“Before I can even tell them, they often interject their own emotional response about an experience that they had, [and] oftentimes it’s much better than anything that I could say because it’s their own experience and so much more powerful to them,” Westerberg reflects. “So most of the time, I don’t like to tell people exactly what a painting is about. [Instead], I like to tell them the genesis of these newer paintings that I’ve been doing over the past few years and kind of explain to them…what was going on at the time that allowed me to derive these more emotionally driven narratives, which was a rough breakup, something I think everyone can relate to. Either the drama in the relationship or the aftermath of the breakup.”
Nothing Missing, oil, 24 x 24 in.
Paintings like Almost and Nevermind depict a situation nearly everyone can connect to on some level.
“I think everyone can relate to the emotional ups and downs of being in a romantic relationship with somebody, and maybe you’re both not quite on the same page with each other. Maybe your goals and interests don’t exactly align, even though you’d really like them to,” he says. “It came about completely accidentally. Everything. The palette, having two figures interacting. I couldn’t paint anything but what I was feeling.”
Nevermind, oil, 18 x 18 in.
Westerberg will be showing these paintings and others during a solo exhibition at Arcadia Contemporary in New York City from November 19 to December 13. The show will also include a number of smaller scale studies that the artist created in preparation for his larger works. —
Aaron Westerberg in his studio.
Arcadia Contemporary 421 W. Broadway, New York, NY 10012 (646) 861-3941 • www.arcadiacontemporary.com
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