The World of Hunt Slonem

Page 1


APRIL 27 - MAY 26, 2024

West Chelsea Contemporary is proud to present The World of Hunt Slonem, an immersive exploration of Hunt Slonem’s artistic universe With over 100 works across media from oil paintings and glowboxes to neon and blown glass The World of Hunt Slonem is the most comprehensive display of the artist’s works in the United States

Having garnered international acclaim, Slonem’s work belongs in over 250 esteemed collections around the world, including major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Würth Museum. His works are collected by U S Presidents and notable celebrities such as Sharon Stone, Brooke Shields, Kylie Jenner, and Jennifer Lopez. Throughout his illustrious career, Hunt Slonem has left an indelible mark on the contemporary art landscape, captivating audiences worldwide with his unparalleled blend of whimsy and profundity. Slonem is best known for his neo-expressionist paintings of wildlife exotica most famously bunnies, tropical birds, and butterflies often suspended in antique frames. Drawing inspiration from the spiritual and natural worlds, he repeats these motifs on an epic scale in an act of visual and artistic mantra.

By varying the moods and techniques of his work in fresh and exciting ways, Hunt Slonem creates beautiful work that continually gives joy and surprise.

With a career spanning six decades, Slonem has established himself as a leading figure in contemporary art known for his distinctive aesthetic. Slonem honed his craft at Tulane University in New Orleans and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he (was exposed to alum Alex Katz and) studied under Alice Neel.

Since his first solo show in 1977, Slonem’s work has been showcased globally, including in Madras, Quito, Venice, Gustavia, San Juan, Guatemala City, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Stockholm, Oslo, Cologne, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. He has received several prestigious grants, including the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cultural Counsel Foundation’s Artist Project, for which he painted an 80-foot mural in the World Trade Center in the late 1970s. Slonem’s artwork has been chronicled by numerous books and monographs, including Bunnies (Glitterati Inc., 2014), Birds (Glitterati Inc , 2017) and Hunt Slonem: An Art Rich and Strange (Harry N Abrams, 2002). His studios and homes have been profiled in such books as When Art Meets Design (Assouline Publishing, 2014) and Pleasure Palaces: The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem (powerHouse Books, 2007), among others

The World of Hunt Slonem embraces the artist’s timeless sense of wonder and vitality Blending the fantastic and the natural, Slonem’s use of vibrant colors, rich textures, and recurring motifs imbue his work with a sense of whimsy and enchantment. Each piece on display offers a window into the artist’s rich imagination and unparalleled mastery of form and color.

West Chelsea Contemporary is honored to open The World of Hunt Slonem in conjunction with HUNTOPIA, Slonem’s worldwide debut garden exhibition at the San Antonio Botanical Garden

HUNT SLONEM

American, b 1951

Artist and collector Hunt Slonem is best known for huge Neo-Expressionist oil paintings populated with rows of birds, bunnies, and butterflies, which he renders in thick, lavishly colored brushstrokes Taking his cues from Andy Warhol’s Pop art seriality, the artist uses repetition as a form of creative meditation that unlocks subconscious sentiment. The son of a naval officer, Slonem honed his craft at Tulane University in New Orleans and, later, at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he was exposed to artists including Alice Neel and Alex Katz Today, his work sells for five figures on the secondary market and can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bahrain National Museum, and the Guilin Art Museum, among other institutions

HUNT SLONEM

b. 1951, Kittery, ME

SELECT EXHIBITIONS

The World of Hunt Slonem, West Chelsea Contemporary, Austin, TX

HUNTOPIA, San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, TX

Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA

Sign of the Rabbit, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY

Wings Across the Atlantic, HOFA Gallery, London, UK

Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective, The Louisiana Museum Foundation, New

Hunt Slonem: The World of Exoticism, iKunstforum Wien Museum,

A Hunt Slonem Menagerie, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA

Hunt Slonem’s Hare Salon, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

Hunt Slonem, Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA

Hunt Slonem: All that Dazzles, National Arts Club, New York, NY

Hunt Slonem: Fantasia, Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany

Hunt Slonem: Magical World, Riga Bourse Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia

Personal Structures, Palazzo Bembo, Venice Biennale, Venice, IT

Hunt Slonem, National Gallery of Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria

Magical World, Daugavplis Mark Rothko Art Centre, Dugavplis, Latvia

Huntopia, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

Hunt Slonem’s Amazing World, Odessa Museum of Eastern and Western

Hunt Slonem, Gallery Red, Mallorca, Spain

Hunt Slonem: Eden Never Ends, Cuadro Fine Art, Dubai, UAE Orleans, LA Art, Odessa, Ukraine Vienna, Austria

SELECT AWARDS

Louisiana State Arts Council Inaugural Lifetime Cultural Achievement

Award, Baton Rouge, LA

The Horticultural Society of New York Award of Excellence, NYC

Urban Stages Award for Fine Art, New York, NY

National Endowment for the Arts

MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, NH

Cultural Council Foundation Arts Project, New York, NY

Transcendence, 700-foot Public Mural, Los Angeles, CA

Quantum Leap, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Divine Assembly, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Public Installation, Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Sea

Bunny Hop, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Butterflies, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Public Installation, Hamilton Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

Tocos, Public Sculpture, Metairie, LA

86-foot Public Mural, Bryant Park Grill, New York, NY

Fan Dance, 80-foot public mural, Port Authority, World Trade Center,

1, New York, NY

The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem, Gibbs Smith: Utah.

Butterflies, Glitterati Inc.: New York.

Gatekeeper: The World of Folly, Assouline: New York

Birds, Glitterati Inc.: New York.

Bunnies, Glitterati Inc.: New York.

When Art Meets Design, Assouline: New York

The Worlds of Hunt Slonem. Vendome Press: New York.

Pleasure Palaces: The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem, powerHouse

New York.

Hunt Slonem: An Art Rich and Strange, Abrams Books: New York.

SELECT COLLECTIONS

Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH

Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH

Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE

The Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI

Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, NY

Guilin Art Museum, Guilin Guang XI P.R. China

Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Hovikodden, Norway

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manila, Philippines

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D C

National Gallery of Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria

New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY

New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA

Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME

Pulitzer Collection, Amsterdam, Holland

Saint Petersburg Museum of Fine Art, FL

San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, CT

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA

Whitney Museum of American Art, New YorkNY

Wurth Museum, Kunzelsau, Germany

Slonem is best known for his “maximalist” paintings of wildlife exotica most famously birds, rabbits, and butterflies. Drawing inspiration from the spiritual and natural worlds, he repeats these motifs on an epic scale in an act of visual and artistic mantra.

White Ascension 7, 2016 Oil on canvas
72" x 84"
$86,900
Abraham’s Peace Plan, 2016 Oil on canvas
72" x 84"
$86,900
Vanity Fair, 2018 Oil on canvas
93" x 133"
$221,650
Cardinals Lakeside, 2022 Oil on canvas
72" x 84"
$79,000
Molucan Doves Peace Plan, 2024 Oil on canvas
36" x 48"
$35,500
Purple Haze, 2014 Oil on canvas panel
36" x 60"
$46,200
Untitled, 2016 Oil on canvas
44" x 77"
$60,500

30" x 30"

40" x 30"

$28,000

Wildflowers, 2024 Oil on canvas
$23,500
Hibiscus Hummingbirds, 2023 Oil on canvas

23 5" x 32 5"

2nd Field Hummingbirds, 2024 Oil on wood
$17,000
Catelayas, 2002 Oil on board
30" x 40"
$33,600
Catelayas Elm Court, 2022
Oil on canvas
30" x 40"
$28,000
Catalayas, 2016 Oil on canvas
36" x 48"
$39,050
Morning Glories, 2018 Oil on canvas
40" x 40"
$36,850

Tulip, 2023*

16 5" x 14 5"

$7,000

Tulip, 2023*

15" x 13"

$7,000

Tulip, 2023* 14 25" x 12 25"

$7,000

Courdt Yard, 2023*

13 5" x 11 5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Red
Red

Night, 2023*

16" x 14"

$7,000

16" x 14"

$7,000

14.5" x 12.5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Kunst Forum Tulip, 2023*
14.5" x 12.5"
$7,000
Purple Catelaya, 2023*
Madrid Red, 2023*
Pink Daisy’s, 2024 Oil on wood
29 5" x 25 5"
$15,500
Bayou Teche, 2023
Oil on wood
20" x 45"
$20,000
Shakti, 2019 Oil on wood
41" x 34"
$26,000
Amazon’s Bliss, 2013 Oil on wood
40" x 28"
$29,700
Lories, 2023 Oil on canvas
46" x 36"
$27,500
Toucans Never Before, 2024 Oil on canvas
30" x 36"
$26,000
Hornbill Keel Bills, 2023 Oil on canvas
48" x 36"
$35,500

27.5" x 21.5"

28" x 23 5"

$15,500

King Parrot, 2023
Oil on wood
$12,000
Amazons, 2023
Oil on wood
Toucanettes Sulphurs, 2023 Oil on wood
33 5" x 29 5"
$18,000
Guardians, 2022 Oil on wood
37" x 31"
$19,500
Green Singer 80's, 2024 Oil on wood
38 5" x 33 5"
$17,750

Grass Keet, 2023*

16" x 14"

$7,000

Halloween, 2023*

13 5" x 11 5"

$7,000

Chattering, 2022*

16" x 14"

$7,000

Owl Ora, 2024*

14 5" x 12 5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Lorry
Hike Washington, 2024 Oil on wood
28" x 23"
$15,000
Single Hoot, 2024 Oil on canvas
27 5" x 21"
$17,500
Lichen Owl Sighting, 2024 Oil on wood
28 5" x 26 5"
$21,500
3 Owls Hoots, 2024 Oil on canvas
32" x 46"
$32,500
Whisper Tondo Monsoon, 2023 Oil on canvas
72" x 72"
$74,000
Ocelots 16 Managua, 2023 Oil on canvas
48" x 60"
$49,000
Lunas, 2017 Oil on canvas
43" x 63"
$35,750
White Banded, 2024 Oil on canvas
34" x 41 5"
$25,500
New Blue, 2019 Oil, resin, and acrylic on canvas
30" x 30"
$23,500
Red Glory, 2023 Oil on canvas
30" x 30"
$23,500
Silver Sky, 2019 Oil on canvas
30" x 40"
$28,000
Moon Void, 2023 Oil on canvas
46" x 32"
$32,500

5" x 12 5" $7,000

Belle Terre, 2024 Oil on wood 20" x 16"
$10,500
Viceroy’s Plan, 2024 Oil on wood 14
Purple Wisteria Courds, 2022
Oil on wood
29 75" x 26 25"
$16,000

16" x 14"

$7,000

15 5" x 13 5"

$7,000

19.25" x 17.25"

$7,000

, 2023* 16" x 14"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Cabbage Patch, 2022*
Lawn Party, 2023*
Peru, 2023*
Yellow Flight

Sulphurs, 2023* 14" x 12"

$7,000

Last Flight, 2024* 16" x 14"

$7,000

Ascension Blue, 2024*

14.5" x 12.5"

$7,000

Flight, 2023* 15" x 13"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Lincoln, 2024
Oil on wood
27" x 23"
$16,000
Untitled, 2014 Oil on wood 29 5" x 24 5"
$13,000
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, 2023 Oil on wood
22 5" x 18 5"
$13,000
Pink Diamond Dust, 2021
Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on canvas
30" x 40"
$28,000
Diamond Dust Emerald, 2022
Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on canvas
30" x 40"
$28,000
Totem Ruby Falls, 2021 Oil on canvas
70" x 50"
$55,000
Hutch Pet Place, 2023
Oil on canvas
60" x 70"
$63,000
Score Keeper, 2024 Oil on wood
25 5" x 20"
$14,500
Golden Fleece, 2023 Oil on canvas
50" x 40"
$38,500
Danube, 2023
Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on canvas
36" x 48"
$35,500
Rosewood Diamond Dust, 2023
Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on canvas
40" x 30"
$28,000
Hutch Spring, 2023
Oil on canvas
48" x 48"
$42,000
Hutch Sighting, 2024
Oil on canvas
30" x 30"
$23,500
Blue Diamond, 2021 Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on canvas
29 75" x 61 75"
$37,500
Black Diamond Dust, 2024 Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on wood
26 5" x 36"
$18,500
Hutch Hutch, 2021 Oil on wood
27" x 35"
$19,500
Pink Panter, 2020 Oil on wood
35 5" x 30 5"
$20,000
Daisy May Hutch, 2024 Oil on wood
35 5" x 27 5"
$21,750
Roland, 2020 Oil on wood
20" x 15"
$10,000
Blue Rapsody, 2024
Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on wood
24" x 22"
$13,000
Row 5, 2023
Oil on wood
22" x 43 25"
$23,500
The Kiss, 2023 Oil on wood
19 75" x 23"
$12,000

Peace, 2023*

15 75" x 13 75"

$7,000

Diamond, 2022**

15 5" x 13 5"

$7,000

, 2023*

15" x 13"

$7,000

Sky Walk, 2022*

15 5" x 13 5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

**Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Green
Blue
Misty

Gables, 2023* 16" x 14"

$7,000

Buttercup, 2022*

15.5" x 13.5"

$7,000

Untitled, 2020* 17 5" x 15"

$8,250

Pale Light, 2022*

16.25" x 14.25"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Coral

, 2019* 16" x 14"

$7,000

Mister, 2022*

14.5" x 12.5"

$8,250

, 2019* 19" x 17"

$7,000

, 2023* 16" x 14"

$8,500

*Oil on wood

Untitled
Untitled
Macoln

Moses, 2024*

14 5" x 12 5"

$7,000

Move, 2023*

14.75" x 12.75"

$7,000

Mar, 2022* 14" x 12"

$7,000

Path, 2022*

18.5" x 16.5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Del
Golden

Cole, 2024* 15" x 13"

$7,000

, 2024* 14 5" x 12 5"

$7,000

Eyes On, 2023* 16" x 14"

$7,000

Total Score, 2024* 14 5" x 12 5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

Sinatra

, 2023* 16" x 14"

$7,000

13 25" x 11 25"

$7,000

Untitled, 2014* 14" x 12" $7,700

Pale Yellow, 2022* 14" x 12"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

**Oil on canvas

Untitled**
Ochre

*Oil on wood

Basel, 2022*
21" x 19"
$7,000
Tommy Hawk, 2022* 21" x 19"
$7,000
Art, 2020* 14" x 12" $7,000
Untitled, 2018*
14" x 12.5" $7,000

Birthday Hawaii, 2024* 14 5" x 12 5" $7,000

Pet, 2022* 21" x 19" $7,000

Tinge, 2023* 14" x 12" $7,000

Ultra, 2020** 14 5" x 12 5"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

**Oil on panel

18.5" x 16.5"

$8,500

13.5" x 11.5"

$8,250

*Oil on wood

Untitled, 2017* 14" x 12"
$7,150
Harvey, 2023* 15" x 13" $7,000
Right, 2023*
Deep Forest, 2023*

Phlox, 2022**

18" x 16"

$7,000

Snow, 2023*

16" x 14"

$7,000

Passion, 2024*

15" x 13"

$7,000

Untitled, 2016*

14 5" x 12 5"

$7,700

*Oil on wood

**Oil & acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Violaceous, 2021*

14 37" x 12 37"

$7,000

Carnation, 2023*

12 62" x 10 62"

$7,000

Lavender, 2024* 14 5" x 12 5" $7,000

Xacha, 2024*

16" x 14"

$7,000

*Oil on wood

“My established lexicon of forms have taken on new life in blown glass...all in a visual culmination that is thrilling to me artistically” - Hunt Slonem

Slonem’s unique glass sculptures are a sublime visual manifestation of the artist’s sense of play Working with his team of artisan glassblowers to form molten glass into his own glass menagerie, Slonem’s established practice and mantra of repetition of form continues a new. Each handblown glass sculpture is both completely unique and yet references and riffs off a visual lexicon 50 years in the making.

Bunny, 2020

Hand-blown glass sculpture

18 50" x 8" x 9"

$9,100

2020

Hand-blown glass sculpture

18 50" x 6" x 11"

$9,100

Azure
Indigo Bunny,
Rouge Pink Bunny, 2020
Hand-blown glass sculpture
16" x 8" x 10"
$9,100
Black Onyx Bunny, 2020
Hand-blown glass sculpture
15 50" x 7" x 9"
$9,100
Sneezewood, 2024
Hand-blown glass sculpture
9 50" x 5" x 5 50"
$5,500
Ruby Gold Bunny, 2020
Hand-blown glass sculpture
15 50" x 7" x 9 50"
$9,100

An intentional evolution of the artist’s bunny walls, blown glass Salon Busts are a playful iteration of the original.

As with many of Slonem’s other series, there is a meditative yet unconstrained repetition of form At once both rhythmic and slightly, yet intentionally, out of cadence with the world of the expected, this series is a continuation of the artist’s desire to recontextualize ephemera previously attributed to formal salons of bygone eras.

Lakayla, 2021
Blown glass bust
27" x 17" x 9"
$12,500
Karina, 2021
Blown glass bust
27" x 17" x 11 50"
$12,500
Orabella, 2021
Blown glass bust
27" x 17" x 9"
$12,500
Tandy, 2020
Blown glass bust
27" x 17" x 8 50"
$12,500
Damzel, 2020
Blown glass bust
27" x 17" x 9"
$12,500

The artist’s desire to illuminate his work was the impetus for the glowbox series Inspired by the luminescence and light quality of blown glass, each acrylic painting is internally lit.

Reunion, 2021

Paint on an LED panel

$35,000

54" x 45" x 4"

First Day, 2021

Paint on an LED panel

$35,000

54" x 46" x 4"

Flapping Space, 2022

Paint on an LED panel

$35,000

54" x 46" x 4"

BUNNIES

With the acknowledgement that his iconic bunny forms are larger than life, Slonem’s new neon light sculptures are intended as a playful reinterpretation of his beloved rabbits Each unique work is comprised of a custom painted aluminum cabinet and delicate Italian neon tubing. For dramatic effect, hidden halo lighting creates an ethereal glow

Tiffany, 2021 Neon on aluminum sculpture
72" x 36" x 7"
$38,500

PAINTINGS

Slonem’s new dichroic painting series emerged, quite literally, through the looking glass. The lush, dimensional line work of Slonem’s oil paintings led him to explore the layered complexity of dichroic glass. Originally created by NASA as a coating for space-bound scientific instruments, the luminescent dichroic coating serves as an undulating canvas for the artist to carve his form into. Presented in a custom-made ocular glass frame design sourced from the 18th century.

Ascendant, 2021
Dichroic coated glass
21" x 21" x 2"
$7,500
Photo: Seth Beckton | K Contemporary

A timeless silhouette revisited. Intentionally bright in color, these large-scale powder-coated works are the next iteration of twodimensional forms made manifest in sculpture. With the same quick and loose gesture as the artist’s hand, the curves and soft angles of the exterior and interior lines of the work are Slonem’s intentional reference of his established painted form

Ruby Falls, State II (2/3), 2021
Powder-coated metal sculpture
72" x 61" x 20"
$85,000

A timeless silhouette revisited in aluminum Intentionally bright in color, Lucky Charm editions are the next iteration of twodimensional forms made manifest in sculpture.

Landric (22/55), 2023
Powder-coated aluminum sculpture 14" x 12 25" x 4"
$5,500
Saturia (41/55), 2022
Powder-coated aluminum sculpture 14" x 12" x 4"
$5,500

PRINTS WITH

Limited edition mixed media prints with acrylic painted handwork capture the nuance and bold gestures of Hunt Slonem’s quick mark-making in a bold new context.

Fiona (/150), 2023
Silkscreen print with acrylic handwork
35" x 25"
$1,650

West Chelsea Contemporary is much more than the typical gallery. Offering worldclass art in a dynamic, interactive setting WCC produces museum-quality exhibitions year-round with programming that is free and open to the public.

West Chelsea Contemporary’s collection includes artists influential to Pop Art, Street Art, Graffiti, Post-Graffiti and contemporary art as well as tastemakers of these movements. With a local, national, and international roster of represented artists, West Chelsea Contemporary situates artwork from the primary market alongside a highly curated selection of pieces from the secondary market This novel display of represented, emerging and mid-career artists alongside Blue Chip masters increases each artist’s exposure and serves to make connections between their work.

1009 West 6th Street #120 Austin, TX 78703

Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm

Sunday 12 - 6pm

512 478 4440 sales@wcc.art

wcc art @wcc.art

All photos credited to Hunt Slonem Studio unless otherwise noted

$25.00

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.