Umurbrogol?  I hate to admit that the title of Wesley Kimler’s latest exhibition was somewhat foreign to me until his opening.  After a quick search on Wikipedia and brief history lesson from the artist, I had a better understanding behind the series. Currently on view at the Eyeporium Gallery, “Umurbrogol” is named after the treacherous mountain range on the island of Peleliu (part of the Palau Islands).   This particular location was the site of one the most devastating WWII battles in the Pacific.  Nestled within a jagged landscape of caves and limestone cliffs, Umurbrogol provided the backdrop for a severely underestimated assault on the Japanese army.  What was supposed to be a three-day U.S. invasion turned into a suicidal mission that lasted nearly three months.  With “Umurbrogol”, Kimler brings every aspect of humanity and emotion of this conflict to life.

Wesley Kimler, Untitled, 2009, acrylic and graphite, 45 x 45 inches, image courtesy of the artist.

Its hard to ignore the relationship between the themes of war and death and the composition and format of Kimler’s paintings.   Angular in shape, the undulating folds of the paper construction are like crags and cliffs of Umurbrogol.  The compositions are strong and depict a swirling of figures and paint.  “Umurbrogol” demonstrates Kimler’s ability to animate the subject beyond its two-dimensional format.  His paintings are a hybrid of abstraction and figural form.  Graphite and acrylic create a layered tension within each constructed format.  Dense blacks, smoky grays and stark whites build upon each other to create obscured portraits that are ghostly and from a distant past, painting a scene of tragedy and glory.  Helmet wearing warriors with clenched fists and weapons charge almost off the wall into the exhibition space.  It looks like a military charge and the rendering is dramatic.

Expressive color screams out from adjacent rooms of the gallery with larger works from the same series.  If the eerily quiet black and white paintings reference the silence of the fallen men, violent pinks, army green and blood red express the charge of the assault.  At 45x45 inches the paintings are reasonable in scale and pale in comparison to more massive works in Kimler’s oeuvre.  A much larger example was part of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s exhibition, “Constellations: Paintings from the MCA Collection” that closed earlier this month.

I had the chance to visit the artist’s studio and view more recent paintings from “Umurbrogol”.   Industrial architecture and the paintings impressive color coexist in the converted warehouse Kimler uses as a studio.  U.S. Generals, Japanese militants, and Marines encompass the immense canvases with a focused intensity.

When I asked about the inspiration for “Umurbrogol” Kimler explained that it deals with high modernism and contemporary postmodern painting.  Finding a way to invigorate and return to a more humanist content, a “return to art”.  The impetus behind this series began with an interest in the events and actions of man and the subsequent retelling by artists.  Kimler set out to create heroic paintings that depict the horrors of war, but also the bravery of the troops.  Says Kimler, “my paintings are not pro-militaristic, but pro-military people”.  At a time when contemporary art that deals with themes of war centers on today’s war, “Umurbrogol” remains a visual history of a different fight.  This was a battle that shaped US history, and as the artist put it, “a war we had to fight.”

--Robyn Farrell Roulo

Addedum: Of special note was a group of whimsical creations also on view at the show's opening.  Mixed media sculptures by Amina Dollah-Kimler, the artist’s 3 and half year-old daughter.  These works brought a playful levity to the sobering subject of war.

“Umurbrogol” is on view through November 14^th, for more information about the artist please visit, www.wesleykimlerstudio.com and www.sharkforum.org.  For the Eyeporium Gallery, www.eyewanteyewear.com.