This delectable hard-edge painting by Frederick Hammersley titled Side wise, is currently on view in the gallery’s backroom. Titling his works was a very important aspect of Hammersley’s practice. In fact, Hammersley would not consider a painting fully complete unless it was given a proper title – which in most cases, took the form of a pun or double entendre. As Hammersley stated, “It’s like your mother wouldn’t allow you to leave [the house] unless you had a name." 

In 2003, L.A. Louver commissioned an oral history for Hammersley, and in an interview conducted by writer Lawrence Weschler, he asked Hammersley about the particular wit behind the titles of his works. Hammersley responded: "That’s unintentional. It’s just the way I’m made. I’m very fond of jokes. Jokes are like poetry or a painting where it’s a two-for one sale. And jokes can be so clever… it gives you things to think about.”

See more works behind the scenes in L.A. Louver’s backrooms on our website. For more information on Frederick Hammersley, visit our gallery history page that lists all of Hammersley’s exhibitions at L.A. Louver, beginning from 1978.

IMAGE: Frederick Hammersley, Side wise, 1994, oil on lnen, 48 x 45 in. (121.9 x 114.3 cm), framed: 48 ¾ x 45 ¾ in. (123.8 x 116.2 cm