Hunt Slonem (b.1951-)
Haitian Rope, 1993
Oil on canvas
37 x 37 inches
Framed Dimensions: 49.5h x 49.5w x 2.50d inches
Slonem has a deep-seeded love and identification with avian abilities, as evident in his many of his works. Fascinated by the paradoxical nature of their existence- organic beings that share our earthly realm, yet unbound by its constraints- able to transcend the enigmas that plague the world of man into the boundless, unadulterated, mysticism of the heavens without a second thought. "As the luminous atmosphere that envelops Slonem's birds suggests, he envisions them existing in paradise. Indeed, however dark the material, they seem to dissolve in light-dematerialize-as in Cockatoos, which are pure presences, all but disembodied," remarks critic, Donald Kuspit.