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Go Inside Artist Hunt Slonems Colorful Castle in Scranton, Pennsylvania _ Architectural Digest.pdf
_Huntopia__ At the Taubman Museum of Art _ Roanoke Valley HOME Magazine.pdf
Biography
Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned for his distinct neo expressionist style. He is best known for his series of bunnies, butterflies and tropical birds, as well as his large-scale sculptures and restorations of forgotten historic homes. Slonem’s works can be found in the permanent collections of 250 museums around the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Whitney, the Miro Foundation and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Since his first solo show at the Fischbach Gallery in 1977, Slonem’s work has been showcased internationally hundreds of times, most recently at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. In 2017 and 2018, he was featured by the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Gallery in Bulgaria, and in countless galleries across the United States, Germany, and Dubai.
His flair and admiration for far-flung destinations has been a staple of his life since childhood. Slonem was born in 1951 in Kittery, Maine, and his father’s position as a Navy officer meant the family moved often during Hunt’s formative years, including extended stays in Hawaii, California and Connecticut. He would continue to seek out travel opportunities throughout his young-adult years, studying abroad in Nicaragua and Mexico; these eyeopening experiences imbued him with an appreciation for tropical landscapes that would influence his unique style.
After graduating with a degree in painting and art history from Tulane University in New Orleans, Slonem spent several years in the early 1970s living in Manhattan. It wasn’t until Janet Fish offered him her studio for the summer of 1975 that Slonem was able to fully immerse himself in his work. His pieces began getting exhibited around New York, propelling his reputation and thrusting him into the city’s explosive contemporary arts scene. He received several prestigious grants, including from Montreal’s Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cultural Counsel Foundation’s Artist Project, for which he painted an 80-foot mural of the World Trade Center in the late 1970s. He also received an introduction to the Marlborough Gallery, which would represent him for 18 years.
As Slonem honed his aesthetic, his work began appearing in unique, contextual spaces. By 1995 he finished a massive six-by-86-foot mural of birds, which shoots across the walls of the Bryant Park Grill Restaurant in New York City. His charity work has resulted dozens of partnerships, including a wallpaper of his famous bunnies designed specifically with Lee Jofa for the Ronald McDonald House in Long Island. Yet Slonem’s most ambitious project has been his mission to save America’s often forgotten historic buildings. Realizing too many of the country’s architectural gems have fallen into disrepair, Slonem has found himself drawn to these national landmarks, inspired by the depth of their age and old-world beauty. Among his accomplishments are the restorations of Cordt’s Mansion in Kingston, NY, the Scranton Armory, and Charles Sumner Woolworth’s mansion in Scranton, PA. His sixth and latest endeavor is Belle Terre, a storied property in South Kortright, NY.
Numerous books and monographs have chronicled Slonem’s art, including Bunnies (Glitterari 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 (power House Books, 2007), among others. His latest will be Gatekeeper (Assouline Publishing), showcasing his reclamation of the Scranton Armory, and its transition “from arms to art.”
Recent Shows and/or Exhibitions
2024
Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY
San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, TX
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
DTR Modern, New York, NY
DTR Modern, Boston, MA
Madison Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
West Chelsea Contemporary, Austin, TX
Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
New River Fine Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Jessica Hagen Fine Art & Design, Newport, RI
Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
GalleryMar, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Merritt Gallery & Renaissance Fine Art, Baltimore, MD
Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, LA
OA Fine Art, Paris, FR
2023
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston & Dallas, TX
Galerie Barbara Von Stechow, Frankfurt, DE
HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art), London, UK
SimonBart Gallery, Sardinia, Italy
SimonBart Gallery, Bologna, Italy
Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA
Harmon-Meek Gallery, Naples FL
Frank Laverdin, Madrid, ES
Courtland & Co, Savannah, GA
Morris Museum, Augusta, GA
Bonner David Galleries, Scottsdale, AZ
Aura Galleries, Mexico City, MX
Coats Wright Art & Design, Indianapolis, IN
Gallery Mar, Park City, UT
Jessica Hagen Fine Art & Design, Newport, RI
Bender Gallery, Asheville, NC
Grenning Gallery Sag Harbor, NY
Tew Galleries, Atlanta, GA.
K Contemporary, Denver, CO
2022
The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, LV
The Siauliai Aušros Museum, Siauliai, LT
Osthaus-Museum Hagen, Hagen, DE
Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
National Arts Club, New York, NY
DTR Modern, Boston, MA DTR Modern, Palm Beach, FL
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
Madison Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
Berkshire Botanical Gardens, Stockbridge, MA
Bender Gallery, Asheville, NC
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
KW Contemporary Art, Kennebunk, ME
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Stanford Fine Art, Nashville, TN
Samuel Owens Gallery, Greenwich, CT
Coats Wright Art & Design, Carmel, IN
Gallery Mar, Park City, UT
Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2021
Bonner David Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Douglas Flanders & Associates Fine Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
DTR Modern, Boston, MA
Eizabeth Moss Galleries, Falmouth, ME
Gallery MAR, Park City, UT
Galerie Schimming, Kampen, DE
Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, FL
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL
Hawk Galleries, Columbus, OH
Jessica Hagen Fine Art, Newport, RI
K Contemporary, Denver, CO
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
Laverdin Fine Arts Gallery, New York, NY
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY
Madison Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Jane Eckert Fine Art Gallery, North Adams, MA
Merritt Gallery & Renaissance Fine Arts, Baltimore, MD
New River Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Quidley & Co., Nantucket, MA
Samuel Owens Gallery, Greenwich, CT
Tew Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Rosenbaum Contemporary, Boca Raton, FL
2020
The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, LV
The G. Elias Art and History Museum, Jelgava, LV
The Mark Rothko Art Center, Daugavpils, LV
Aura Galleries, Mexico City, MX
Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Exhibit by Aberson, Tulsa, OK
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montréal, QC
Harmon Meek, Naples, FL
K Contemporary Art, Denver, CO
Madison Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Manolis Project Gallery, Miami, FL
Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Weinberger Fine Art, Kansas City, MO
Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned for his distinct neo expressionist style. He is best known for his series of bunnies, butterflies and tropical birds, as well as his large-scale sculptures and restorations of forgotten historic homes. Slonem’s works can be found in the permanent collections of 250 museums around the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Whitney, the Miro Foundation and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Since his first solo show at the Fischbach Gallery in 1977, Slonem’s work has been showcased internationally hundreds of times, most recently at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. In 2017 and 2018, he was featured by the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Gallery in Bulgaria, and in countless galleries across the United States, Germany, and Dubai.
His flair and admiration for far-flung destinations has been a staple of his life since childhood. Slonem was born in 1951 in Kittery, Maine, and his father’s position as a Navy officer meant the family moved often during Hunt’s formative years, including extended stays in Hawaii, California and Connecticut. He would continue to seek out travel opportunities throughout his young-adult years, studying abroad in Nicaragua and Mexico; these eyeopening experiences imbued him with an appreciation for tropical landscapes that would influence his unique style.
After graduating with a degree in painting and art history from Tulane University in New Orleans, Slonem spent several years in the early 1970s living in Manhattan. It wasn’t until Janet Fish offered him her studio for the summer of 1975 that Slonem was able to fully immerse himself in his work. His pieces began getting exhibited around New York, propelling his reputation and thrusting him into the city’s explosive contemporary arts scene. He received several prestigious grants, including from Montreal’s Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cultural Counsel Foundation’s Artist Project, for which he painted an 80-foot mural of the World Trade Center in the late 1970s. He also received an introduction to the Marlborough Gallery, which would represent him for 18 years.
As Slonem honed his aesthetic, his work began appearing in unique, contextual spaces. By 1995 he finished a massive six-by-86-foot mural of birds, which shoots across the walls of the Bryant Park Grill Restaurant in New York City. His charity work has resulted dozens of partnerships, including a wallpaper of his famous bunnies designed specifically with Lee Jofa for the Ronald McDonald House in Long Island. Yet Slonem’s most ambitious project has been his mission to save America’s often forgotten historic buildings. Realizing too many of the country’s architectural gems have fallen into disrepair, Slonem has found himself drawn to these national landmarks, inspired by the depth of their age and old-world beauty. Among his accomplishments are the restorations of Cordt’s Mansion in Kingston, NY, the Scranton Armory, and Charles Sumner Woolworth’s mansion in Scranton, PA. His sixth and latest endeavor is Belle Terre, a storied property in South Kortright, NY.
Numerous books and monographs have chronicled Slonem’s art, including Bunnies (Glitterari 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 (power House Books, 2007), among others. His latest will be Gatekeeper (Assouline Publishing), showcasing his reclamation of the Scranton Armory, and its transition “from arms to art.”
Recent Shows and/or Exhibitions
2024
Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY
San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, TX
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
DTR Modern, New York, NY
DTR Modern, Boston, MA
Madison Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
West Chelsea Contemporary, Austin, TX
Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
New River Fine Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Jessica Hagen Fine Art & Design, Newport, RI
Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
GalleryMar, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Merritt Gallery & Renaissance Fine Art, Baltimore, MD
Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, LA
OA Fine Art, Paris, FR
2023
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston & Dallas, TX
Galerie Barbara Von Stechow, Frankfurt, DE
HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art), London, UK
SimonBart Gallery, Sardinia, Italy
SimonBart Gallery, Bologna, Italy
Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA
Harmon-Meek Gallery, Naples FL
Frank Laverdin, Madrid, ES
Courtland & Co, Savannah, GA
Morris Museum, Augusta, GA
Bonner David Galleries, Scottsdale, AZ
Aura Galleries, Mexico City, MX
Coats Wright Art & Design, Indianapolis, IN
Gallery Mar, Park City, UT
Jessica Hagen Fine Art & Design, Newport, RI
Bender Gallery, Asheville, NC
Grenning Gallery Sag Harbor, NY
Tew Galleries, Atlanta, GA.
K Contemporary, Denver, CO
2022
The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, LV
The Siauliai Aušros Museum, Siauliai, LT
Osthaus-Museum Hagen, Hagen, DE
Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
National Arts Club, New York, NY
DTR Modern, Boston, MA DTR Modern, Palm Beach, FL
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
Madison Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
Berkshire Botanical Gardens, Stockbridge, MA
Bender Gallery, Asheville, NC
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
KW Contemporary Art, Kennebunk, ME
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Stanford Fine Art, Nashville, TN
Samuel Owens Gallery, Greenwich, CT
Coats Wright Art & Design, Carmel, IN
Gallery Mar, Park City, UT
Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2021
Bonner David Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Douglas Flanders & Associates Fine Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
DTR Modern, Boston, MA
Eizabeth Moss Galleries, Falmouth, ME
Gallery MAR, Park City, UT
Galerie Schimming, Kampen, DE
Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, FL
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL
Hawk Galleries, Columbus, OH
Jessica Hagen Fine Art, Newport, RI
K Contemporary, Denver, CO
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
Laverdin Fine Arts Gallery, New York, NY
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY
Madison Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Jane Eckert Fine Art Gallery, North Adams, MA
Merritt Gallery & Renaissance Fine Arts, Baltimore, MD
New River Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Quidley & Co., Nantucket, MA
Samuel Owens Gallery, Greenwich, CT
Tew Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Rosenbaum Contemporary, Boca Raton, FL
2020
The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, LV
The G. Elias Art and History Museum, Jelgava, LV
The Mark Rothko Art Center, Daugavpils, LV
Aura Galleries, Mexico City, MX
Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Exhibit by Aberson, Tulsa, OK
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montréal, QC
Harmon Meek, Naples, FL
K Contemporary Art, Denver, CO
Madison Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Manolis Project Gallery, Miami, FL
Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Weinberger Fine Art, Kansas City, MO
Architectural Digest interview with Hunt Slonem Nov 3, 2015 from Hunt Slonem on Vimeo.