Ranging from a complete departure from any semblance of a grid, such as in By Right of the Wood (2020), to an implication of a grid in works such as Mystery Train (2021), the selection of works in Persephone subverts the hard-edge abstraction and precisionist style for which Westfall is known. In these recent works, mismatched shapes are precariously stacked aside and on top of one another, seeming to be on the verge of toppling over off the canvas. These rambling compositions also possess an emerging symbolist quality suggestive of landscapes, perhaps a result of Westfall finding inspiration in the surroundings of his Hudson Valley home during the various lockdowns of the past two years: criss-crossing branches, telephone poles and their bowed lines, the light of the sky as the sun sinks into the horizon.

Using as many as eight layers of paint to achieve a specific color, Westfall creates his compositions with contrasting hues ranging from bold to subtle, light to dark. The seemingly-simple combination of these disparate colors imbues the works with energy and movement, rendering the canvases as expressions of freedom and specificity of place. Citing Blinky Palermo, Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly Navajo rugs, and NASCAR scoreboards as past influences, Westfall creates palettes that, in the words of Faye Hirsch, “breathe within and upon a surface that has no limitations.”

In addition to the works on canvas and paper, Westfall will install two floor-to-ceiling wall murals at the entrance of the gallery—a genre of painting that Westfall has engaged with since 2007. Public works by Westfall include a commission from the MTA at the 30th Avenue Station in Queens, New York, and site-specific works at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Museum of Art, Design, and Architecture, Art OMI, and Rutgers University. This exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with an essay by author, curator and critic Faye Hirsch.