Todd Hunter’s work is a constant war between rational and irrational – when should an artist have a complete control and when should he let go to the instincts. Conscious work can give great results in utilizing the things you’ve learned through artistic experience. But if an artist relies just on this aspect of the mind, the never-ending sky of unknown will be left unexplored. Hunter’s work constantly dances between these two sides, trying to figure out when should you create with your mind, and when should you create with your soul.
For himself, Hunter says he’s neither an abstract nor figurative painter. On first sight of his art, your impression will lean towards the abstract side, but as you gaze at his paintings for a longer time, you’ll soon discover different shapes, hands, faces and even entire bodies. It’s even possible, the shapes one person sees, won’t be the same for another. His paintings negate the existing shapes and create alternative versions, which do not belong in this world, but in another – perhaps the world he himself created. It’s a magnetic world of constant reshaping, which Hunter catches in paintings for the viewer to review and figure out what they represent. It’s this part that shows the true nature of his work. It doesn’t matter if another person will be able to correctly describe Hunter’s visualizations because it’s not possible. Hunter gives his personal description of the world he found, and the viewers are here to further extend it through their own experience of it.
Unlike other artists, Hunter doesn’t add to achieve a more striking result. Quite contrary, he erases. His process of painting is like a journey. You need to get from one point to another, but sooner or later you realize you’ve gone too far and you need to retrace your steps by deleting the unneeded. In the example of Todd Hunter’s work, words like deleting or erasing don’t have the usual meaning. By removing something, he doesn’t negate the past existence of the removed element, he gives it meaning by acknowledging the erasing process. Hunter realizes if it wasn’t for the destruction of an aspect, he would never be able to arrive at the current point he finds himself in. If it wasn’t for the wrong turns along the path, he would constantly be on the safe track and by that, he would miss all the possibilities the unknown provides.
Hunter’s often lets music to influence him for his canvases. Some of the songwriters he’s influenced by are Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, and Tom Waits. By visualizing the worlds and characters these musicians describe, Hunter tries to transfer them to the canvas. Although it can be hard to describe the core of his work and if it even exists – it can safely be said, his inspirations surround him – both his visual and auditory perception. When he finishes a painting, this piece of work begins an existence of its own and the only further option Hunter has is either to leave it as it is or to completely erase it.
He is represented by The Cat Street Gallery in Hong Kong.
Featured image: Todd Hunter – Unknown (Detail) – Photo Credits: www.slimpaley.com
All other images photo credits: www.scottliveseygalleries.com
Year | Name of the Exhibition | Gallery-Museum | Solo-Group |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | ArtHK11 | GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2011 | Grantpirrie Editions | Suite One, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2011 | Art for Science | Murdoch Research Institute, Nellie Castan Gallery | Group |
2011 | Wattle | Cat Street Gallery Hong Kong | Group |
2011n | Small Work | Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2011n | Recent Works | BMGArt Gallery, Adelaide, SA | Solo |
2010 | Hong Kong International Art Fair | Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong | Group |
2010 | Art Of Music | Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2010n | Melbourne Art Fair 2010 | Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2010n | Love Buzz | GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2009 | Unknown | Paddington Landscape Art Prize, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2009 | Salon des Refusés | SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2009 | Art for Science | Nellie Castan Gallery | Group |
2009n | Recent Paintings | Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2009n | In Bloom | Gallery 2, GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2008 | Fleurieu Art Prize | Fleurieu Biennale, South Australia | Group |
2008 | Strange Weather | BMGArt Gallery, Adelaide, SA | Solo |
2008 | This Perfect Day | Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2008 | Sunshine Coast Art Prize | Caloundra Regional Gallery | Group |
2008 | -Tattersall’s Club Art Prize | Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
2007 | Kings School Art Prize | Parramatta, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2007 | Sunshine Coast Art Prize | Caloundra Regional Gallery | Group |
2007 | Tattersall’s Club Art Prize | Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
2007 | Paddington Landscape Art Prize | Paddington, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2007 | All Times Through Paradise | GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2006 | -Ironic Expressionism, Curator | Virginia Wilson Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2006 | Just Like the Night | Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2006 | Hunter | BMGArt Gallery Adelaide, SA | Solo |
2005 | ABN Amro Emerging Artist Award | Sydney, NSW | Group |
2005n | Recent Paintings | GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2004 | Tattersall’s Club Invitation Art Prize | Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
2004n | Hunter | Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, QLD | Solo |
2004n | Hunter | Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2003 | Tattersall’s Club Invitation Art Prize | Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
2003 | The Year In Art | SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Group |
2003n | Recent Paintings | GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2002n | Hunter | BMGArt Gallery, Adelaide, SA | Solo |
2002n | Hunter | Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC | Solo |
2002n | Twenty Fine Paintings | Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC | Group |
2001n | Twenty Fine Paintings | Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC | Group |
2001n | Hunter | Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2000n | Melbourne Contemporary Art Fair | Melbourne, VIC | Group |
2000n | Hunter | Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, QLD | Solo |
2000n | Hunter | BMGArt Gallery, Adelaide, SA | Solo |
2000n | Hunter | Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
2000n | -Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship | Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW | Group |
1999n | Hunter | Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
1999n | Inaugural Exhibition | Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1999n | -Inaugural Schools and Universities Prize Exhibition | Schools and Universities Club, Sydney,nNSW | Group |
1998 | Flesh: Collections of Sensual & Erotic Art | Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD | Group |
1998n | Hunter | Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Solo |
1998n | Hunter | Smith and Stoneley on Stratton, Brisbane, QLD | Solo |
1997 | Global Art: Australia Beyond | Carpediem Gallery, Thailand | Group |
1997 | The First Brisbane International Art Fair | Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1997 | Downlands College Art Awards | Toowoomba, QLD | Group |
1997n | Hunter | Fortitude Gallery, Brisbane, QLD | Solo |
1996 | Stanthorpe Arts Festival | Stanthorpe, QLD | Group |
1996 | Asia Pacific Hotel Art Fair | Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1996n | Preview | Fortitude Gallery, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1996n | Hunter | Fortitude Gallery, Brisbane, QLD | Solo |
1995n | Unknown | Gilchrist Galleries, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1995n | Churchie Exhibition of Emerging Art | Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1994n | Ten Figurative Artists | Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney, NSW | Group |
1994n | Logan National Art Award | Logann | Group |
1994n | Hunter | The Vine Galleria, Brisbane, QLD | Solo |
1993n | Rebels Without a Course | Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1993n | Believers | Isnt, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1993n | Griffith University Drawing Exhibition | Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1992n | Final Configuration | Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1992n | Free Trade | Isnt, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1992n | Art = Aura | Space Plenitude, Brisbane, QLD | Group |
1991n | Three Positions | Space Plenitude, Brisbane, QLD | Group |