we had a wonderful visit with tony hernandez in his studio before the new paintings were transported to the gallery for our current exhibition. to see the work in person for the first time after sneak peeks here and there plus hearing about the imagery evolving over time is such a thrill. tony’s studio practice has always been the same since we have known him for the past 22 years. he disappears into the studio to start a body of work and does not come out till he is finished with the paintings. his time clock adjust to staying up all night sometimes days and sleeping when he needs to restore his mind. the only activity he allows himself is an occasional motorcycle ride to clear his head. tony labors over his encaustic surfaces pulling and scraping to achieve a pristine surface resembling a calm crystal clear lake. the subject matter is always the same a lone subject usually a young child centered on the baltic birch panel. but they are never really alone. there is a powerful presence unspoken whispering secrets to the viewer. the power of an image is on full display with tony hernandez’s recent encaustic paintings.
“i went into the studio on february 9th and didn’t come out until the world was shut down and i figured it was a new world. the painting starts with an idea of an image, sometimes (they) come from drawings. sometimes imagery from books. i usually look through hundreds of books on subjects i am working on, from drawings of auschwitz to the kabbalah, children during the holocaust. i’m always looking for symbols. i really wanted to turn something horrible into something that can be beautiful.”
over the last several decades, tony hernandez has worked exclusively on handmade birch wood panels using the technically-demanding process of encaustic painting. while his works are simple visually, their psychological tone is complex. In these void landscapes, he portrays children unabridged, drawing on emotional gravity. With nothing to distract from the subject, the viewer is pulled into this land of childlike curiosity and fear. even with evident melancholy throughout the body of work, such as the boy in the dunce hat, reaching for his shadow, there is hope within his shadowed, crowned self. hernandez often uses doves to imply this sense of hope, as they represent a bridge from the despondent into the ethereal. with the painting of the doves sitting before a lounging girl, they seem guardian-like, protecting her from the trials that presumably surround her. in another painting, a girl adorns a deep red dunce cap while two doves perch on her forearms, depicting that thin divide between reality and imagination.
through his adroit portrayal of historical calamities and symbolism, hernandez has been contrasted with a litany of acclaimed artists, such as christian boltanski and anselm kiefer. even so, hernandez’s dexterity draws from his own instinct, which he developed after attending the art institute of atlanta as a high school student. after devoting himself to painting full-time in 1988, he distinguished his style further as he recognized that he paints for the primarily emotional connection. this disassociation from trends has allowed him to look inward before he looks outward, creating works that are overwhelming and frank. the art critic jerry cullum has said, "it’s rare to find an artist whose work functions so totally on a level that gives the subjective sensation of intellectual satisfaction without providing anything like an obvious conceptual agenda. his approach to figuration delivers a definable psychological impact, and that he does this with rather more complexity than most painters."
all available work by tony hernandez can be viewed on our website under the artist page under his tab. click on the artist’s name to bring up all work with sizing and pricing. please call the gallery if you have any further questions.