On the Roof by F. Scott Hess
F. Scott Hess, On the Roof, 1996, oil on canvas, 48 × 64 inches, 2 am in The Hours of the Day series, Collection of the San Jose Museum of Art
Where am I, Father? I found myself in a simple old Dutch boat, with sails white as clouds. The azurite sky met the smalted horizon, showing a boundless world, north, south, east, west. By mornings I would dance across the umber decks, spear a yellow fish or two, sing songs that only boatmen knew. But always in the afternoon, I would sail my ancient craft madly towards the west, trying to catch the fleeing sun. And always, in despair, I would see that great flaming disk drop into the sea, its last golden ray touching my salt-stained cheeks.
Where am I, Father? This blank sky has not even one star by which to steer my boat. I stand on the bow and peer into the charcoal-gray breach. I wait for your hand to rise from the depths and show me the way. No wave or wind disturbs the quiet of this sea. Only my own movements send out circles of tiny waves, a call to you that fades, imperceptibly, to gray. How am I to reach your golden harbor? Where am I, Father? Where are you?
Artist’s Statement
After living in Iran for a year (1992-93), and painting that culture with the same critical eye I’d applied in the 1980s to American culture, I felt a desire for introspection that my usual political and social commentary didn’t facilitate. My work evolved more nuanced views, centered on family and fatherhood, its content multi-layered and open-ended. As I aged an acute awareness of mortality blossomed, and a need to engage the existential questions of life by exploring issues of impotence, futility, and final judgment. These heavy subjects I approached with a jaundiced reverence; even the darkest of my works always bear a hint of the hilarity of the human condition. I painted The Hours of the Day series from 1994 to 2000.
Born 1955 in Baltimore, F Scott Hess studied at the UW-Madison & the Vienna Academy of Fine Art. He exhibited in Austria, Germany and France before moving to Los Angeles for his first American solo exhibition in 1985, followed by hundreds of group and solo exhibitions. His work is included in the collections of the LA County Museum of Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Long Beach Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Institute, among many others. He has received a Theodor Koerner Award, Western States Art Federation award, a J. Paul Getty Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. The Paternal Suit; Heirlooms from the F Scott Hess Family Foundation opened in 2012 and toured 5 venues in the United States. Hess' 2014 retrospective (Cal State Fullerton, & the Municipal Art Gallery of Los Angeles) was accompanied by a monograph of 40 years of his work. A one hour documentary by Shirin Bazleh, “F. Scott Hess: A Reluctant Realist,” was released in 2018 and streams on Amazon Prime. Hess is represented by Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.