Collection: Hunt Slonem

American artist Hunt Slonem is a colorist and figurative painter, best known for his large Neo-Expressionist oil paintings of tropical birds based on his personal aviary. His lavishly colored canvases are populated with rows of birds rendered with thick brushstrokes.

His earlier works of the birds, bunnies, and butterflies were painted wet-on-wet, hiding the subjects behind crosshatched patterns, creating a blurred effect and emphasizing the painting's tactile qualities.

According to John Rothschild, "Slonem's work is deeply rooted in the act of painting. His jarring color choices, spontaneous mark making, and scratched hatch marks are the result of his ongoing fascination with the manipulation and implementation of paint." His work is known for his use of impasto and texture. The Manolis Projects collection has a number of these earlier works of birds and butterflies painted in the wet-on-wet style.

Manolis Projects also has a large collection of Hunt's early work (1972-1987) where he explored man's relationship to nature and his own spirituality. This work was a reaction to the earlier Minimalist Movement and is characterized by bold colors.

Slonem has had over 300 one-man shows in galleries and museums internationally. His work is in the permanent collections of over 250 museums- including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney.