‘Hunt Slonem: Illumination’ full of ‘fluffle’ whimsy
For those who don’t know that a group of rabbits is called a “fluffle,” now is a good time to learn the word, especially before experiencing the current exhibit Downtown at Hawk Galleries.
“Hunt Slonem: Illumination” includes hundreds of rabbits, painted on canvas or sculpted in glass by the neoexpressionistic New York-based American artist. There are paintings with fluffles of rabbits captured in broad, thick brush strokes. Jumbo bunnies are produced in those same thick, outline stokes in contrasting colors in neonlight paintings. Blown-glass rabbits in a variety of colors gather together on podiums. And visible during the day and night from outside the gallery’s front window is the six-foot-tall “All Ears,” a formidable glass rabbit made of pink and lavender mosaics.
Slonem, 70, was born in Hawaii where he became enamored of wildlife, especially tropical birds, which he continues to rescue, keep — and paint. The Hawk Galleries exhibit includes several of his flamboyant scenes of toucans, hornbills and other birds painted on canvas.
But the dominant creature in the exhibit is the rabbit, an animal Slonem became enamored with a number of years ago while having dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
“On the back of the menu there was a chart of the Chinese zodiac,” he is quoted in “Bunnies,” a book about his work. “I was eating a spring roll (and) discovered I was born in the Year of the Rabbit.”
In a short video that can be seen in the gallery, Slonem said he finds rabbits “fascinating” and, “like blades of grass or snowflakes,” all different.
Only recently, according to Hawk Galleries owner Tom Hawk, has Slonem created his rabbits in glass. He began working in the medium during the pandemic.
On one wall in the exhibit are different-colored glass leporine portraits in gold oval frames, a kind of VIP gallery of
At a glance
“Hunt Slonem: Illumination” continues through Oct. 30 at Hawk Galleries, 153 E. Main St. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Masks are required. The full exhibit can be seen online. Visit www.hawkgalleries.com or call 614-225-9595. bunnies.
Several paintings, including the blue and red “Bunk Beds” and the orange and pink “Desert Ears,” are created with paint on LED panels. Slonem’s paintings made with oils and acrylics and diamond dust on canvas give the creatures sparkle. The artist even makes blown-glass cylinder sculptures adorned with blue and white rabbits.
Hawk Galleries, celebrating its 35th anniversary, has represented Slonem for about 10 years. This exhibit is not only whimsically appealing, it is artisticaldesert ly impressive.
Slonem’s works can be seen in more than 80 museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum of American Art and, close to home, the Columbus Museum of Art.
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