Wesley Kimler, “Drawing,” paint, charcoal on paper, 88″ x 58″/Photo: Gallery Victor
In case the rest of Chicago was wondering where Wesley Kimler was, he’s alive and well, kicking it outside of the city in what he lovingly refers to as his Hillbilly Homestead Fox Lair Kite Factory in Fairview, Michigan. Younger artists of today may not recognize this long-standing Chicago artist and figure, known for his Hunter S. Thompson-esque persona—he’s philosophical, direct and famed for being a loose cannon. Kimler is candid, raw and, like the rest of us, aging. However, age hasn’t stopped this seventy-one-year-old Chicago anti-hero from living and breathing his art.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Kimler back in 2013. At the time he was in his legendary Carroll Street Studio, with squawking parrots, leaping foxes and large, looming paintings. Much has changed for the artist since then. Kimler spoke to me about his latest pieces at Gallery Victor and his work and role in the art world since we spoke over a decade ago. So what has this passionately political single father, fox Daddy—for those of you who don’t know, Kimler is a fervid advocate for fox rescues and sanctuaries—been up to?
Wesley Kimler, “The Maven,” oil on canvas, 110″ x 120″/Photo: Gallery Victor
According to Kimler, he’s got a few shows in the works, one in L.A., and one coming this fall. “My daughter’s moving out. I’m up here alone, and I’m really getting back into painting now,” he says. Notable for his gargantuan, surrealist-abstract paintings, Kimler has been influenced by artists like David Park, Roy De Forest and Joan Brown. He’s also forever possessed by his time and experiences in Afghanistan.
Of the works up at Gallery Victor, “Drawing,” is the most familiar, a black and white piece that Kimler pours with graphite or charcoal to cover the seams. It’s dubbed a drawing because of his gestural, figurative technique that mimics the act of drawing. The black, organic, rounded shape pairs well with the sharper, defined points of the paper background.
Wesley Kimler, “Figures,” oil on canvas, 36″ x 36″/Photo: Gallery Victor
Works like “Drawing” are just one of Kimler’s distinct styles, and the other works, “The Maven” and “Figures,” feel like a preview of what’s to come. The artist tells me that the works featured at Gallery Victor on West Superior Street are just a few, and that he’s planning a larger exhibition next year. “I left the Chicago art world because I said everything I needed to say. I was there for years,” Kimler tells me. “It’s water under the bridge now. I don’t care anymore. I don’t care,” he says. “I do care about my paintings, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make the best paintings I know how to make. I think my best paintings are in front of me, not behind me.”
Wesley Kimler’s work is on view at Gallery Victor, 300 West Superior. Another display of Kimler’s work, “2032,” a collaboration with Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Mark Strand is also at the Poetry Foundation’s latest exhibition, “A Bigger Table: Fifty Years of the Chicago Poetry Center,” through September 14, and includes poetry broadsides that fuse poetry with visual imagery and design.
