Hunt Slonem: HUNT

San Diego, California – Madison Gallery presents the legendary Hunt Slonem in his ninth solo exhibition in Southern California. Internationally recognized painter, sculptor, and printmaker, Slonem’s work has been exhibited in more than 350 institutions worldwide, and is represented in over 250 museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. Madison Gallery invites you to the highly anticipated exhibition titled, “HUNT”, celebrating the iconic, whimsical, and significant works by renowned Hunt Slonem.

The Artist will be participating in an Artist Talk from 6 - 8 PM and will be signing the latest copy of his book “The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem”. Capsule summaries of the artist’s idiosyncratic interior design style, “The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem” is about how Slonem employs color, arranges an abundance of antique furniture, and exhibits his own paintings with scores of historic portraits. “My homes are my life’s work - making old houses into a new form of my art,” says Hunt Slonem in his preface. “More is more” is a fit adage for what this book reveals.

Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is best known for his distinct Neo-Expressionist oil paintings of bunnies, butterflies, and the tropical birds in his personal aviary. His lavishly colored canvases are populated with birds rendered with thick brushstrokes. “I was influenced by Warhol’s repetition of soup cans and Marilyn,” Slonem says. “But I’m more interested in doing it in the sense of prayer, with repetition… It’s really a form of worship.” Hunt Slonem tends to embrace the ephemeral beauty of nature, a characteristic that brings a nurturing, spiritual effect to his creations.

“I have always found our enigmatic and natural world to be deeply inspiring and have made it my life’s work to instill its beauty into my art and creative endeavors. As I study and admire the divinity of animal spirits and muses of varying forms, my long-established painting practice continues to inform this novel undertaking. My strong attitude toward color and reverence for the mysticism of nature can be witnessed in my art.” Hunt Slonem

Slonem exhibits regularly at both public and private venues around the world, and has received numerous honors and awards, including a MacDowell Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts grant. Slonem’s works can be found in the permanent collections of more than 250 museums around the world, including the Miro Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Whitney, and the Guggenheim Museum.

Madison Gallery was founded by Lorna York in 2001. The program focuses on internationally recognized, museum-level artists whose work contributes to domestic and international cultural dialogue. The gallery presents significant Latin artists and brings international artists to San Diego for the first time. The core gallery program focuses on young and emerging artists, but the gallery also punctuates the program with historical exhibitions to provide depth and context. Artists represented by Madison Gallery receive critical attention and are widely exhibited. Many of the gallery’s primary artists, originally shown with Madison Gallery, are now being shown internationally and by established galleries in other cities, proving that the gallery has become a springboard for young talent.