Hunt Slonem, ''Day Moth,'' oil on canvas, 48 x 56''.

Continuing through July 8, 2013

At first glance, Hunt Slonem’s large exhibition of oil paintings appear as simply a collection of richly colored, decorative images on canvas. In his depictions of birds, butterflies, flowers and human faces Slonem reveals a deeply intimate, sensitive familiarity and keen technical knowledge of the subject matter. He creates his paintings in his New York studio that also serves as an aviary where he cares for rescued birds. 

Through pattern, repetition and color, each painting portrays a field of images of mostly birds or butterflies seemingly suspended in space, appearing and disappearing as they move in and out of view. There is an underlying grid structure to most of Slonem’s works that renders the more pleasing his subtle free-hand cross-hatching scratched into the surface of each painting. The cross-hatching alludes to a cage or screen that metaphorically restrains the fauna. Painted in an expressionistic style, these works have a sense of levity, light and space that is both spiritual and joyful.