Bender Gallery News

November 3, 2021
Seth Haverkamp's Solo Exhibition

Seth Haverkamp has become recognized for his figurative paintings that have a touch of imagination and striking narrative that draw the viewer further into the work. On November 4th, Bender Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina, will open its first solo exhibition for the artist. The show, titled "Beauty is the Meaning," includes past works as well as new pieces that are more thematic. One of the latest pieces, in progress at the time of this article, is a large-scale two- figure work that Havekamp says is “Wyeth-esque.”

The title of the show, "Beauty is the Meaning," has resonated with Haverkamp because while his work is themed, his paintings are about the beauty and technique. “What I’ve been interested in isn’t making a statement or putting my thoughts into the world, but just trying to make an image that is beautiful and captivating and draws you in,” he explains. “That’s always kind of been my thinking...Although there are underlying themes going on in some of my paintings, I don’t announce what they are but by the way I paint, there’s something underlying under the surface.”

Haverkamp’s paintings have a defined style through their color and focus on important details—such as facial expressions and hands. “One thing I try to do is push layers upon layers upon layers of strong color to get interesting results,” the artist shares. “It’s about five colors I use that overlap very strongly with very little color mixing, and that’s how I treat every part of the painting—clothes, hands, backgrounds. Sometimes it can be about seven or eight colors on my palette.” Haverkamp uses one yellow, one orange, one red (sometimes two), blue (sometimes two) and a purple. Being color blind and not able to see green, Haverkamp omits green in the palette, but through his mixing, the range of colors appear in his works.

While he uses other models, often in Haverkamp’s artwork his children appear as the figure. The works are not portraits of them, but rather tell stories Haverkamp wants to paint. “It’s just interesting, beautiful moments that just happen to be with my children posing for the picture,” he explains, adding that the photo shoots are helpful because he can plan the work out more with good photos that show the light, shadow and drama of the scene.

Among his latest pieces is Split Infinity, depicting 17-year-old Essie, one of Haverkamp’s children. The work shows Essie acting in the role of royalty, which came about during a photo shoot Haverkamp did while they were out on the beach with his nieces and nephews all throwing sand around. It’s visually captivating with the plume of sand in the fore-ground and Essie peering out from behind. “Because of the pose and the wand and blanket,” Haverkamp explains, “it reminded me of classic 17th-century portraits of royalty. It had an old-fashioned feel to it.”

Another work in the show is Star, featuring Haverkamp’s 12-year-old Penelope standing front and center wearing a shirt with a drawing that Essie had done—a small star in the corner. Penelope holds a robin’s egg, but Haverkamp is quick to say, “I purposefully didn’t name it about that, but I thought it was a nice image.”

-American Art Collector