Sacrifice and Betrayal:

Will Hernandez’s Political Iconography

April 2025

Born in 1973 in Delicias, Morazán, El Salvador, and now based in Tampa, Florida, Will Hernandez

creates arresting narrative paintings that confront the enduring mysteries of faith, identity, and

human morality. A graduate of Saint Peter’s College in New Jersey, Hernandez studied under

artist Oscar Magnan and has since developed a distinctive voice rooted in storytelling. His work

often draws from his personal history as a child of war, weaving together trauma, religious inquiry,

and historical memory into bold, emotionally charged compositions. His published poetry and

participation in exhibitions across the U.S., as well as inclusion in International Contemporary

Artists, reflect the literary and spiritual dimension underpinning his practice.

Hernandez describes his work as narrative painting—each canvas a chapter in a spiritual and

philosophical quest. His ongoing series, The Judas-Messiah Complex, stems from a deeply

personal loss: the death of his father, which catalyzed his questioning of God’s existence and

presence in earthly suffering. In this series, Hernandez juxtaposes figures who, in his view, embody

either Christ-like transcendence or the archetype of Judas. The result is a powerful exploration of

martyrdom, betrayal, and the thin, volatile boundary between sacrifice and violence.

In ‘JFK vs. Oswald’ (2024), the artist presents a bold diptych: John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey

Oswald face one another across a vivid red field, each occupying a symmetrical panel. Oswald,

dressed plainly and holding a rifle, stares toward a composed Kennedy, whose folded arms suggest

dignity and resolve. The stylization of both figures—somber, simplified, iconic—invokes religious

art, suggesting a martyrdom narrative, while the searing red background evokes blood, conviction,

and the spectacle of historical memory. The painting is not just about an assassination, but about

power, projection, and the haunting symmetry of belief and betrayal.

A similar visual rhetoric is found in ‘Gandhi vs. Godse’ (2024), another oil diptych in which

Nathuram Godse raises a pistol toward a serene, prayerful Mahatma Gandhi. The composition is

stark, its emotional gravity undeniable. Gandhi’s white robe and closed eyes emphasize his role as

spiritual symbol, while the red background again underlines the violence of ideological extremism.

The viewer is left to grapple with the moment before the shot—suspended in a moral limbo that

feels both eternal and immediate. Through this, Hernandez reframes historical martyrdom as a

ritual confrontation between light and shadow, truth and annihilation.

What distinguishes Hernandez’s practice is his willingness to hold a mirror to history’s most painful

contradictions. His paintings are not didactic; they are meditations on legacy, human failure, and

the search for redemption in a world that often punishes its prophets. With a painterly language

that echoes early Renaissance altarpieces and contemporary political murals alike, Hernandez

invites viewers to sit with discomfort and ask difficult questions. In doing so, he asserts the

relevance of figurative painting in our ongoing reckoning with memory, power, and belief.

Art Review by

Circle Foundation for the Arts

Will Hernandez

JFK vs Oswald

Gandhi vs Godse

April 2025