Love, Hunt

LOVE,Hunt

LOVE,

APRIL 9 - MAY 24, 2026

LOVE,Hunt

An immersive and transportive experience, Love, Hunt invites viewers deeper into the vivid, expressive universe of Hunt Slonem, imagined through the lens of devotion, repetition, and emotional abundance Building on the momentum of back to back highly acclaimed presentations, this exhibition expands into a more intimate and enveloping environment, where over 118 new works across diverse media, including mosaic, expressive oil paintings, and sculptural glass, coalesce into a living, breathing world

Love, Hunt positions maximalism not as excess, but as sanctuary. Walls bloom with pattern and color, inviting viewers to slow down, linger, and surrender to the experience of looking In this space, repetition becomes reverence and pattern becomes emotional language. The familiar transforms into the transcendent.

Slonem’s iconic motifs of bunnies, tropical birds, and butterflies transcend subject to become a language of feeling. Repeated in rhythmic succession, they function as both visual mantra and emotional architecture. Love, Hunt unfolds as a meditation on beauty as a practice: a quiet, persistent act of attention, accumulation, and care. Each canvas, frame, and sculpture contributes to a larger atmosphere, one that is indulgent, saturated, and intentionally generous.

Midway through the exhibition, the introduction of a new body of work by Ash Almonte offers a compelling counterpoint, an emerging voice in dialogue with Slonem’s legacy. Almonte’s presence punctuates the exhibition with a fresh perspective, expanding the conversation around romanticism in contemporary culture and the evolving role of beauty in visual art today

Love, Hunt is not simply an exhibition to be viewed; it is one to be felt. A space to be held in color, to be softened by repetition, and to be reminded that beauty, when it fully surrounds us, has the power to restore, to enchant and to stay with us long after.

HUNT SLONEM

American, b 1954

Hunt Slonem is best known for huge Neo-Expressionist oil paintings populated with rows of birds, bunnies, and butterflies, which he renders in thick, lavishly colored brushstrokes. With a career spanning over four decades, Slonem has become a leading figure in American art, celebrated for his unique visual language, exuberant use of color, and exploration of symbolism. Taking his cues from Andy Warhol’s Pop art seriality, Slonem uses repetition as a form of creative meditation that unlocks subconscious sentiment.

Slonem honed his craft at Tulane University in New Orleans and, later, at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he was exposed to artists including Alice Neel and Alex Katz. Today, having garnered international acclaim, Slonem’s work belongs in over 250 esteemed collections around the world, including major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Würth Museum. His works are collected by U.S. Presidents and notable celebrities such as Sharon Stone, Brooke Shields, Kylie Jenner, and Jennifer Lopez Slonem's distinctive style and prolific body of work continue to inspire collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide, solidifying his place as one of the leading contemporary artists of his generation.

HUNT SLONEM

b. 1951, Kittery, ME

SELECT EXHIBITIONS

Eternal Spring: Hunt Slonem’s World of Color, Galerie Barabara Von

Stechow, Feldbergstraße , Germany

Hunt Slonem, DTR Modern, Palm Beach, FL

The World of Hunt Slonem, West Chelsea Contemporary, Austin, TX

HUNTOPIA, San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, TX

Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA

Sign of the Rabbit, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY

Wings Across the Atlantic, HOFA Gallery, London, UK

Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective, The Louisiana Museum Foundation, New

Hunt Slonem: The World of Exoticism, iKunstforum Wien Museum,

Vienna, Austria

A Hunt Slonem Menagerie, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA

Hunt Slonem’s Hare Salon, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

Hunt Slonem, Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA

Hunt Slonem: All that Dazzles, National Arts Club, New York, NY

Hunt Slonem: Fantasia, Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany

Hunt Slonem: Magical World, Riga Bourse Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia

Personal Structures, Palazzo Bembo, Venice Biennale, Venice, IT

Hunt Slonem, National Gallery of Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria

Magical World, Daugavplis Mark Rothko Art Centre, Dugavplis, Latvia

Huntopia, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

Hunt Slonem’s Amazing World, Odessa Museum of Eastern and Western

Art, Odessa, Ukraine

Hunt Slonem, Gallery Red, Mallorca, Spain

Hunt Slonem: Eden Never Ends, Cuadro Fine Art, Dubai, UAE

SELECT AWARDS

Louisiana State Arts Council Inaugural Lifetime Cultural Achievement

Award, Baton Rouge, LA

The Horticultural Society of New York Award of Excellence, NYC

Urban Stages Award for Fine Art, New York, NY

National Endowment for the Arts

MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, NH

Cultural Council Foundation Arts Project, New York, NY

PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS

Transcendence, 700-foot Public Mural, Los Angeles, CA

Quantum Leap, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Divine Assembly, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Public Installation, Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Sea

Bunny Hop, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Butterflies, Public Sculpture, Kenner, LA

Public Installation, Hamilton Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

Tocos, Public Sculpture, Metairie, LA

86-foot Public Mural, Bryant Park Grill, New York, NY

Fan Dance, 80-foot public mural, Port Authority, World Trade Center,

1, New York, NY

MONOGRAPHS

The Spirited Homes of Hunt Slonem, Gibbs Smith: Utah.

Butterflies, Glitterati Inc.: New York.

Gatekeeper: The World of Folly, Assouline: New York

Birds, Glitterati Inc.: New York.

Bunnies, Glitterati Inc.: New York.

When Art Meets Design, Assouline: New York

The Worlds of Hunt Slonem. Vendome Press: New York.

Pleasure Palaces: The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem, powerHouse

New York.

Hunt Slonem: An Art Rich and Strange, Abrams Books: New York.

SELECT COLLECTIONS

Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH

Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH

Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE

The Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI

Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, NY

Guilin Art Museum, Guilin Guang XI P.R. China

Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Hovikodden, Norway

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manila, Philippines

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D C

National Gallery of Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria

New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY

New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA

Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME

Pulitzer Collection, Amsterdam, Holland

Saint Petersburg Museum of Fine Art, FL

The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D C

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, CT

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Wurth Museum, Kunzelsau, Germany

Slonem, who has owned rabbits as pets since childhood, began painting the beloved creatures in sweeping brushstrokes in the 1980s, drawn to their simple and friendly shapes.

“One night I was having Chinese food, and I looked down and realized I am the sign of the rabbit,” Slonem once explained, referring to his Chinese zodiac sign “So maybe they’re sort of all self-portraits.” The bunnies, rendered in almost childlike contour lines against solid color backgrounds, have multiplied throughout Slonem’s oeuvre, becoming one of his most famous symbols of innocence, luck, mythology, and nature. Much like the cyclical nature of a zodiac, he returns to his most recognizable motif time and again, emphasizing the profound impact of repetition on his artistic practice, yet lending each figure a personality through inimitable brushwork. His playful forms are expertly composed through contrasts in color and texture, setting the viewer’s gaze into motion to traverse each painting and find new perspectives in each viewing

Whether in monumental canvases or individual studies, Slonem’s multicolored bunnies have found their way into museums and galleries, as well as traditional and contemporary homes alike. With reproductions of his big-eared creatures adorning everything from tableware and textiles to cashmere sweaters and even face masks, Slonem’s rabbits have taken on a life of their own becoming not only a signature of his practice but a beloved motif that continues to charm collectors and viewers across the globe.

2017

Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Valentine Day, 2024

Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Hutch Thursday, 2025

8, 2024

25 5" x 31 5"

Powder, 2024*

9 5" x 8 5"

$8,000

Deep Forest, 2023* 12" x 10"

$9,500

Untitled, 2014* 10" x 8" $9,600

Untitled, 2017* 10" x 8"

$9,200

*Oil on wood

TY, 2025*

10" x 8"

$8,000

Right, 2023*

11.5" x 9.5"

$9,000

Maine, 2025* 10" x 8"

$8,000

Snooze, 2025* 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

Untitled, 2021

Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood 10" x 8"

$8,000

Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood 10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

*Oil on wood

, 2026**

10" x 8"

$8,000

Room, 2025**

10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2024** 10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2025** 10" x 8"

$8,000

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

8"

$8,000

12" x 10"

$9,500

2019* 10" x 8"

, 2014* 10" x 14" $9,600 *Oil on wood

$8,000

*Oil on wood

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2026** 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Move, 2023* 10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2025** 10" x 8"

$8,000

Mist, 2021* 10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2018** 10" x 8"

$9,200

*Oil on wood

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Profile, 2025*

10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2025*

10" x 8"

$8,000

LAte, 2024* 10" x 8"

$8,000

UNTITLED, 2025*

10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

Sea

2026** 10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

2025* 10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2026** 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

Margo Yard, 2025** 10" x 8"

$8,000

Miracle Grow, 2025** 10" x 8"

$8,000

Spring, 2025** 10" x 8" $8,000

Lilac, 2025** 10" x 8"

$8,000

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

2022* 10" x 8"

$8,000

12" x 10"

$10,925

2025* 10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2022** 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

**Oil and acrylic with diamond dust on wood

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

2023* 10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

12" x 10"

10" x 8"

10" x 8"

2026* 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

10" x 8"

$8,000

, 2025* 10" x 8"

$8,000

2026** 10" x 8"

$8,000

Night Life, 2025** 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

Harvey, 2023** 10" x 8"

$8,000

Spring, 2022*

12 5" x 10"

$9,625

Untitled, 2014** 10" x 8"

$8,000

Lee, 2022* 10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

“I saw a butterfly in a coffee plantation growing up,” Hunt Slonem once said “I never got over the experience.” That moment ephemeral, yet imprinted became a lifelong fascination, fluttering through his consciousness and ultimately, his canvases. Slonem’s winged creatures often drift across his paintings in clustered formation, like a dreamscape in motion For the artist, repetition is not simply a stylistic choice but a spiritual one: each butterfly becomes a mantra, a meditation on the cycles of metamorphosis, rebirth, and the divine intelligence of the natural world.

Rendered from memory rather than observation, Slonem’s butterflies shimmer with an impressionistic softness Their wings, slightly blurred and often suspended midflight, suggest both presence and impermanence a visual echo of the fleeting beauty they embody. Color, texture, and movement come together in these works to create a sense of reverence, as though the canvas itself is an altar to nature’s most delicate miracles

In a world often defined by speed and distraction, Slonem’s butterflies ask us to slow down, to notice the small transformations, and to find wonder in the quiet rituals of life and renewal

*Oil on wood

The artist’s Brooklyn studio is a sanctuary for both creativity and companionship, housing 60 pet birds amidst a "wonderland of jungles and living birds and antiques" Hunt Slonem finds inspiration in this vibrant environment as he paints his avian companions daily. The studio is a reflection of his mind an ever-evolving landscape where art, life, and nature intertwine.

As the son of a Navy officer, he spent his formative years in Hawaii, Louisiana, and Nicaragua, each environment contributing to his visual lexicon. The lush, untamed landscapes of these regions are reflected in the bold colors and dynamic compositions of his work, which he regards as “the elixir of life.” His paintings burst with the same vitality he experienced as a child, surrounded by the colors of tropical birds, flowers, and endless skies

In addition to his mastery of color, Slonem’s use of delicate cross-hatching evokes the intricate bars of a birdcage, adding texture and rhythm to the surfaces of his paintings This technique, mimics the patterns of flight, as well as the delicate boundary between freedom and captivity. Much like the birds that fill his studio, his paintings vibrate with an energy that is both structured and boundless an allegory for the artist’s own creative process.

Slonem’s birds are not just subjects to be captured, but living symbols of grace, freedom, and fleeting beauty. They are reminders of the fragility of life, as well as its persistence a celebration of life’s quiet yet profound moments.

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

Amazon,

10" x 8"

$8,000

10" x 8"

$8,000

*Oil on wood

30" x 30"

40" x 30"

$30,500

A timeless silhouette revisited. Intentionally bright in color, these large-scale powder-coated works are the next iteration of twodimensional forms made manifest in sculpture. With the same quick and loose gesture as the artist’s hand, the curves and soft angles of the exterior and interior lines of the work are Slonem’s intentional reference of his established painted form

“My established lexicon of forms have taken on new life in blown glass...all in a visual culmination that is thrilling to me artistically” - Hunt Slonem

Slonem’s unique glass sculptures are a sublime visual manifestation of the artist’s sense of play Working with his team of artisan glassblowers to form molten glass into his own glass menagerie, Slonem’s established practice and mantra of repetition of form continues a new. Each handblown glass sculpture is both completely unique and yet references and riffs off a visual lexicon 50 years in the making.

Ruby, 2026

Bronze sculpture 12" x 4.25" x 4"

Ed. 1/7

$7,000

Rosa, 2026

Bronze sculpture 12" x 5.5" x 5"

Ed 1/5

$7,000

An intentional evolution of the artist’s bunny walls, blown glass Salon Busts are a playful iteration of the original.

As with many of Slonem’s other series, there is a meditative yet unconstrained repetition of form At once both rhythmic and slightly, yet intentionally, out of cadence with the world of the expected, this series is a continuation of the artist’s desire to recontextualize ephemera previously attributed to formal salons of bygone eras.

West Chelsea Contemporary is much more than the typical gallery. Offering worldclass art in a dynamic, interactive setting WCC produces museum-quality exhibitions year-round with programming that is free and open to the public.

West Chelsea Contemporary’s collection includes artists influential to Pop Art, Street Art, Graffiti, Post-Graffiti and contemporary art as well as tastemakers of these movements. With a local, national, and international roster of represented artists, West Chelsea Contemporary situates artwork from the primary market alongside a highly curated selection of pieces from the secondary market This novel display of represented, emerging and mid-career artists alongside Blue Chip masters increases each artist’s exposure and serves to make connections between their work.

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