Hunt Slonem (b.1951-)
Birds & Guardians, 2019
Oil on canvas
104 x 134 inches
Framed Dimensions: 107h x 137w x 3.50d inches
Hunt Slonem generally painted animals that are becoming extinct in order to preserve them for posterity. His paintings are a message to mankind that we have become ecologically insane and warms us against human indifference to, or outright disrespect for the natural environment. Slonem wants to preserve them; his animals become immortal through art.
Slonem says, "Birds signify divinity in their ability to leave the realm of earthly constraints behind through their ability of flight, as a direct metaphorical transcendence from the realm of man to that of spirit.” While, often using the color white to portray the spiritual purity of his subjects, Slonem, repeats these motifs on an epic scale in an act of visual and artistic mantra.
Slonem‘s guardian series of the 1990s make use of repetition to maximize intensity. These paintings are painterly abstractions in which the animal forms or animal eyes are painted repeatedly. He makes it seem spontaneous, his repetition of the animal form is not mechanical but systematic and quirky and build momentum to achieve a synergistic effect. The guardian eyes serve as amulets to protect him and us.