Hunt Slonem

Totem Tango

2020

“I believe in repetition like a holy mantra or rosary,” neo-Expressionist painter Hunt Slonem (b. 1951) told Introspective, referring to his artistic method. “I am slightly influenced by Pop art, like the repetition of soup cans, postage stamps and celebrities. It’s something I have been doing my whole life.”

Slonem, who often depicts birds, rendered in thick, gestural brushstrokes and arranged in a loose grid, developed his fascination with tropical avian life during a childhood spent in Hawaii and Nicaragua. Today, his 30,000-square-foot studio in Brooklyn contains an aviary, along with a personal garden, a collection of antiques and walls and walls of artworks.

Besides birds, Slonem also paints bunnies — so many that they’ve become a signature. Limned in expressive, urgent strokes on flat, vibrantly colored backgrounds, these creatures fascinate through their subtle variations. “I have painted hundreds of rabbits, but each one is different,” the artist has explained. “Each has its own personality, and it just comes through me.”

The multitalented Slonem also sculpts, makes prints, creates installations and restores historic spaces. His work has achieved cult status among collectors and is represented in the permanent collections of such esteemed institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Slonem has even made an appearance on Real Housewives of New York.