PRESS RELEASE
HUNT SLONEM: Thump & Flutter
Jul 18 – Aug 7, 2019
Diehl Gallery
presents
HUNT SLONEM: Thump & Flutter
07.18.19 – 08.07.19
OPENING RECEPTION
07.18.19
5 – 8 PM
At the heart of Hunt Slonem’s work are the bunnies, birds, and butterflies that he so adores. These fascinating creatures, so often relegated to a spring time fantasia of kitsch, create the perfect contrast for Slonem’s bold neo-expressionist style. In Thump & Flutter, Slonem’s second solo exhibition with Diehl Gallery, a spectrum of Slonem’s most enduring themes, his beloved menagerie of animals will be featured. Slonem elevates these creatures to realms of artistic interest in much the same way Warhol elevated the soup can. Through constant repetition the animals cease to simply be cute and cuddly but take on deeper connotations of pattern and emotion.
These evocative patterns of animal and color call to mind a more primal understanding of art and inspiration. By rendering them repeatedly Slonem gives them new life and new stories. He allows us to peak into a world of joyful naivete, that only animals can possess, and in doing so holds a mirror up to our own existence.
Since 1977 Slonem has shown in over 350 exhibitions at galleries and museums around the world. His iconic works can be found in over eighty museum collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and the National Gallery of Art.
This exhibition will benefit