Wes Freed poses with his artwork. (Photo by Jim Stramel)
A visual artist and musician, the late Wes Freed is perhaps best known for his surrealist illustrations adorning the album covers of Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers. The Richmond-based artist’s unmistakable, collector-worthy record covers and concert posters depicted images of otherworldly beings and animals with connections to the music they embellish. In 2022, at the age of 58, Freed died from colorectal cancer. His legacy lives on through his creative pursuits, and a new exhibition at the Art Hive in Staunton is showcasing his work through the month of March. An opening reception is set for March 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the art center, located at 835 Spring Hill Road.
The exhibition was curated with assistance from the Friends of Wes Freed, who wanted to display Freed’s artwork near his hometown of Crimora in the Shenandoah Valley; it’s the first time many of his works will be showcased near the area where he grew up. Freed was a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, and the institution created the Wes Freed Memorial Scholarship Fund in 2022, offering financial aid to VCUarts students from rural localities in Virginia. Proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the scholarship fund, which has currently raised $22,000 toward its $50,000 goal to become a full endowment. Direct donations can also be made through VCU.
Art by Wes Freed (Image courtesy Friends of Wes Freed)
Freed’s impact as an artist and illustrator has resonated among art enthusiasts and musicians across the globe. Upon his death, Rolling Stone magazine described his “ominous, gothic artwork” as bringing the albums it adorned “to vivid life.” As a musician, Freed has often been described as shy offstage, but he transformed as a stage performer. During the 1980s and ’90s, Freed sang with the bands Mudd Helmet, Dirt Ball and The Shiners, delighting audiences with the ferocity of his vocal performances.
Multimedia artist and Friends of Wes Freed member Renée Stramel describes his artwork as possessing “a mythic quality balanced by a certain humbleness and good humor, like a memory of a good time.” Although Freed’s work has been popularly labeled as “Southern gothic,” Stramel isn’t sure the term fully captures the nature of his art. “[His work will] continue to influence artists because of its connection to the viewer,” she says. “Freed created iconic characters that inhabit a universe of his own making. Each work was part of a larger story.”
Stramel hopes the Art Hive exhibition will provide an opportunity for both fans of Freed’s work and those not familiar with him to become better acquainted. In addition, she would like the VCUarts scholarship to inspire other Virginians to pursue their own artistic dreams, “especially those from rural communities,” she says, adding that she’d like the funds to open the door to “the possibilities that come from being an artist ... it starts with a dedication to your craft, no matter where you are.”
Art Hive co-founder Kirsten Schneider says she’s thrilled to host the special exhibition. “Especially to have so many of his works on loan and being shown together for the first time in the area Wes grew up in, amongst the landscape that informed his work,” she says. “That his legacy will go on to support the voices of other rural artists is truly wonderful.”
The Wes Freed exhibition runs March 1-31 at Art Hive, located at 835 Spring Hill Road in Staunton.
