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599 NINTH STREET NORTH SUITE 309 | NAPLES, FL 34102 | 239.261.2637
ASK THE ARTSPERTS TEXTURE www.harmonmeek.com
by Juliana Meek and Kristine Meek newest work at his solo exhibition at
Harmon-Meek Gallery January 24
Dear Artspert: through February 12 at 599 9th Street
North in the Capital Bank Building.
I was looking at a Hunt Slonem painting and was
just curious: does he use some type of screen to scratch You might also be interested in
the paint? How do artists create texture in a painting? seeing the work of Tobi Kahn which
also utilizes rich texture to convey his
Signed, spiritual, metaphorical and abstract
depictions of subjects that can range
Scratching my head from aerial landscapes to biological or
molecular. Kahn uses a time consuming
Dear Scratching, and laborious process of layering acrylic
paint over gesso. Tobi Kahn will be in
You are not alone in asking this question, as it is Naples on Thursday, February 18 from 6
one we hear a lot. You might be surprised to hear that -8 p.m. at Harmon-Meek|modern and
Hunt Slonem creates that effect by hand one stroke at his feature will be hanging until March
a time. He has mastered this technique after decades. 12 at 382 12th Avenue South, in the
Third Street South shopping district.
Slonem is best known for his paintings of tropical
birds, a category he describes as “exotica.” He began Another artist known for using rich
this technique for his paintings of birds and butterflies. texture is Bob Kane. He used thick oil
His fascination with nature goes back to his experiences paint heavily slathered onto his treated,
living in Nicaragua as a teenager, the son of a Navy linen canvas. You almost feel the urge
officer. For as long as well have known him (since the to touch his work. Children can touch
1990s) he has kept birds – often rescued or no longer his technique at the Loos Gallery at the
wanted birds – in his studio aviary. Many of the birds Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples
are more than 60 years old and have been with him where a large Kane painting of a horse is
for decades. They often roam freely and perch on top on display behind Opium Plexiglas and
of paintings or in the rafters of his loft-like studio. next to a small sample of his technique,
While you walk through his studio you will often hear which he created especially for the
a “hello” coming from a bird or two in an elegant and museum to use as an example that kids
giant antique birdcage – one of dozens in his studio. could touch.
Slonem has been painting since the 70s, and Sincerely,
he remains incredibly prolific. Slonem perfected a
technique of painting wet onto wet. He then makes The Artsperts
sweeping crosshatches with a paint brush handle that
he has sharpened to a point. His crosshatching on the
painted canvas is used to mimic, he says, the effect
of viewing birds or butterflies through a cage, as he
often does when he paints. You can see Hunt Slonem’s
TOP MIDDLE BOTTOM
HUNT SLONEM’S “SILENT,” BOB KANE’S “CAPPUCCINO,” TOBI KAHN’S “AKH-ITMIM II,”
OIL ON CANVAS, OIL ON CANVAS, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS OVER WOOD,
48” X 48”, 2015 12” DIA. 2001 50” X 38”X 2”, 2013
