Max Hembrow was born in Oxford in 1994. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from Arts University Bournemouth in 2018. Hembrow has undertaken professional training in classical methods of oil painting and drawing at the Florence Academy of Art & Central Saint Martins with additional training in abstract observation at the Paris Collage of Art.

 

His work combines elements of the classical European tradition and School of Paris Modernism established by Picasso, Braque, Cézanne and Matisse, with a particular interest in musical motifs and the treatment of the figure through forms of psychological analytical cubism.

 

Hembrow’s paintings of the figure interpret and explore the cubist technique of dissecting the subject from multiple viewpoints, using a simplified language of intersecting lines and numerous overlapping planes to construct an image of the body fragmented and distorted by the contemporary media. In a break from the traditionally simplified palette of colours common to early cubism, in some paintings, Hembrow embellishes the figure and surrounding space with patterns of strong primary colours suggesting the vibrant and intense colour of stained glass panels. In others, these patterns suggest a natural, ever-changing environment, both beautiful and chaotic.

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Max Hembrow's Painting is like music through rhythm, motion and depth through complimentary and contrasting colours brought together to enhance each other, creating a sense of vibrancy and intensity. The vibrant hues in his paintings are ultimately based on nature, the pattern creates an extravagant stain glass window effect that explores the notion of an ever-changing environment shaped by a balance struck between beauty and chaos. The role of the lute in the works is to illustrate sound and harmony. The sound of the lute almost immediately disappears once it has been strummed, this is a metaphor for the painting being plucked from a moment in time. He is a vibrant artist of the anatomy and structure of the figure to expose the treatment of visual reality in today’s society. Portraying classical methods of painting in his work while reinventing traditional styles and techniques of the figure in space. Particular attention is paid to anatomical construction of parts and symmetry in line. 

 

Hembrow lays down layers of paint and marks, working intuitively and strategically as a response to music. The works explore tensions between time, marks, colour, and composition.   

 

Max Hembrow’s work is included in many private and public collections including Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford University, and The Arc, Shoreditch. Selected exhibitions include: Battersea AAF Autumn, NoonPowell Gallery (2023); Solo Show, 60 Threadneedle Street, VJB Art, London (2023); Hampstead AAF, NoonPowell Gallery (2023);  Cubism Reimagined,  508 Gallery. London (2022); Millfield Polo Invitational, Kingweston House, Somerset (2019); Free Range, Old Truman Brewery, London (2018); Project Space 5, Arts University Bournemouth, (2017); Structural Genomics Consortium, Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford University (2017).​​