In 2014 during an extended visit to New York City by Wendy Wolfe Rodrigue, right, Hunt Slonem, left, presented her with a box of Cane River Pecans from New Iberia. Slonem hoped it would cheer George Rodrigue’s recent widow as a memento of their treasured friendship. Slonem’s artwork was featured on the boxed tin of pecans.

International artist brightens the world with color

Preservationists have long been admirers of the beauty and simplicity of cultural icons. They take us back to an era gone by or protect a piece of history not discarded but embraced for its legacy. They are also artists that capture a place or time, a thought or emotion, then present it for all to see. When preservationists and artists come together for the benefit of the patrons, something wonderful happens.

Hunt Slonem has been a Teche Area homeowner for more than 10 years. He is a preservationist and an artist. His internationally displayed and collected artworks have hung in galleries in Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Before he bought Albania Plantation, he had a show in New Iberia. Now he’s back.

Slonem’s “Bayou, Birds and Butterflies” opens Sept. 16 and remains until Dec. 1 at the Bayou Teche Museum. Residents and visitors to New Iberia will get a glimpse into the world of Slonem, a colorful, exotic interpretation of life that is admired and envied.

He doesn’t own a television. He rescues birds and raises orchids. Between studio time, trips to open exhibits or checking on the continual restoration of his properties, Slonem spends time contemplating. Then he paints things that matter to him and stretches the imagination to place paint and texture in a style that captures the attention of sheiks and collectors around the world.

Previews of his achievements online can’t touch the detail that brings appreciation for his style when viewed in person. The depth of painting, the unusual grids and patterns of sculpted paint carries the novice and expert into the realm of the artist. The technique used to create the often seen crisscross pattern of a birdcage grid in his paintings is a mystery until it is exposed — then common sense says, “Aha,” with complete understanding.

Hunt — The Painter

Slonem lives in Manhattan and works in a 30,000 square foot Brooklyn studio in Sunset Park. With travel taking up to half the month on average, his time is more precious in the studio these days, he said. He is preparing new works that will exhibit in four shows next year in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“I paint huge things in the studio four days a week,” Slonem said. “I do a lot of commissions that requires meeting deadlines.”

A favorite installation of his work is a 50-foot mural in the dining room at The Hamilton restaurant in Washington D.C. Large pieces like this are stretched on canvas, removable except for one now lost. The only mural he ever painted directly on an interior wall was on the 43rd floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. It is a stark memory of a September tragedy.

The house where Taylor Swift lives, and a Kardashian home, have Slonem paintings. Following a show in another country, an admirer purchased the complete collection that had been on display.

In the book, “The Worlds of Hunt Slonem,” by Dominique Nahas, his work has been described by “some observers as uncanny, in the Freudian sense, that is, the re-experiencing of something considered lost or dead or forgotten that is entombed in the unconscious and somehow reencountered and recognized in conscious life, often in an inadvertent way.” Truly, “the artist has identified with and has been inspired by what he terms the exotic,” the narrative said.

Slonem was born into a military family and at an early age enjoyed the privilege of traveling to other parts of the world. Exotic places such as Hawaii and Mexico have found their way into his style.

Rescuing exotic birds and watching them through cages clearly influenced his repetitive designs capturing parrots, toucans, macaws, jungle animals and simple butterflies. Their colors are paramount in his interpretations but the subtlety of black and white is equally as fascinating in Slonem’s study of bunny rabbits — which can just as easily be in vivid color.

A series of acrylic on aluminum sculptures can be seen throughout Kenner and Metairie featuring his tocos, macaw, butterflies and bunnies.

His artistic gifts were always a part of his life. Slonem’s grandfather was an encourager, a painter in his own right and collector of art. He recognized Slonem’s desire to paint when just a child.

“If you let it, the world can be so full of criticism that it can shut you down,” Slonem said. “I always wanted to be an artist. I’ve had a lot of people that cared about what I do and they have constantly given opportunity.”

Leaning on the Divine

A man with great respect for the spiritual, having studied many religions, Slonem is dedicated to his work and spends hours finding inspiration and perfection for his art at his New York City studio. The routine for Slonem starts with solitary time of reflection and meditation. His more than 80 exotic birds that share his domain are often captured in the color pallets of his paintings. A stylized grid on his paintings keep them behind cage walls, but they fly free in his studio.

“My greatest gift from God, I only ever wanted to do one thing — paint,” Slonem said during an interview earlier this summer. “It hasn’t been handed to me on a silver platter. I work very hard. Today to be an artist on the top level you have to be a manufacturer, wheeler-dealer genius.”

He has also painted the eternal witness — a part that is always watching — never judging, he said.

“Truman Capote said, ‘When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended for self-flagellation solely,’ ” Slonem said. “I never feel like I’ve arrived. Endless, higher, bigger, more, there’s always more. I’ve watched so many talented people not follow through. It’s more than a key — discipline upon discipline.”

From His Admirers

Respect for the artist comes from a casual stroll through his humble home, or a conversation after a lecture when his encouragement to an artist gives inspiration.

“I just love him,” said artist and teacher Victoria “Vikki” Morgan. “I heard him speak and met him once. He gave such affirmation. I just wanted to go home and paint.”

Slonem has been a good friend of the late George Rodrigue and his family. For many years a mutual deep appreciation for their achievements was shared.

“Wendy and George Rodrigue were/are very dear friends of mine,” Slonem said. “I knew them before I bought this house (Albania). I gave Wendy one of Miss Emily’s ball gowns. George gave me a house warming painting.”

Whenever the two high profile and prolific artists were together, they enjoyed talking shop, said Wendy Wolfe Rodrigue about her husband and Slonem.

“We own quite a few pieces by Hunt. He and George became close friends, always talking shop,” she said. “It was mutual admiration. They were in awe how much each was able to get done as business owners and with Hunt’s estate remodeling — they both still had time to paint.”

When George asked Slonem to paint Wendy’s portrait for a Christmas gift, he created 35 different compositions. Twelve became her gift, opening one after the other in a room filled with laughter for the quantity delivered.

With the fall show at the museum, there will be opportunity for Slonem to meet more of his neighbors from the Teche Area, and they will have the opportunity to meet a very interesting man.

Beyond the Canvas

Slonem’s bayou collection, which hung in the Paul and Lulu Hillard University Art Museum, was completely inspired by living at Albania Plantation on the Bayou Teche. An illustrated book features quotes from James Lee Burke novels and Louisiana poet laureate Darrell Bourque.

Copies of “Hunt Slonem On the Bayou” will be available for purchase with Slonem’s personalization during the Sept. 16 opening. Proceeds will benefit activities at the Bayou Teche Museum. Tickets to the fundraising reception and lecture are $25 at the museum.