Unseen Realms
I’ve been a professional artist for more than a half-century. When I was twenty-five, I imagined that after I’d been painting for fifty years, I’d have a sense of mastery which would yield critical approval and financial reward. I’ve had both these things and, in fact, been fairly successful–but the name and fame game has always left me cold. It’s shallow and fickle and brings little real satisfaction. I’m motivated to uncover things in the act of painting. Invisible realities–a kind of inner landscape. I believe that behind what’s happening in our country right now is something very ancient and deeply malevolent–but I don’t think it is human in origin. I’m not discounting the very real evil afoot on a human level. But my new paintings are a kind of behind-the-veil danse macabre. A memento mori–meditation on good and evil … a kind of Brechtian theater of the absurd. I hope the work connects with people who are hurting right now–as well as those who want to think about what’s really happening around and inside us. The paintings came from somewhere deep inside of me and baffled me–a break from what I’ve been doing for decades. They’re a kind of return to where I started in the 1970s. A familiar place that has become unfamiliar.
Just like America.
Death Be Not Proud ©Bruce Herman, 2025, oil on wood panels; overall length 144” x 86” at high point
Death Be Not Proud ©Bruce Herman, 2025, oil on wood; detail from center panel
Masquerade: Unseen Realm ©Bruce Herman, 2025, oil on wood panels; 60” x 144”
Masquerade: Unseen Realm ©Bruce Herman, 2025, oil on wood panels; detail
I believe that behind what’s happening in our country right now is something very ancient and deeply malevolent–but I don’t think it is human in origin.
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Theater) ©Bruce Herman, 2025, oil on wood panels, total length 150”; high point 86”
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Theater) ©Bruce Herman, 2025, oil on wood panels; details
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Child ©Bruce Herman, 2005, oil on wood panels; 60” x 160” overall
NEED COPY / Battling Unseen Realms ©Bruce Herman, 2005, oil on wood panels; ??” x ???” overall
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— Bruce Herman
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