Mini-Post: New Art by Shawn Huckins

Shawn Huckins: The Floral Portrait: Sarah Sherburne (after Copley), 2023

(Above: The Floral Portrait: Sarah Sherburne (after Copley), 2023, by Shawn Huckins, acrylic on canvas, 56 x 44 in.) Click to enlarge

What’s great about Shawn again? 

Shawn continues to refine his technical specialty of merging classical historical portraiture with modern preoccupations. My full post on his work can be found here.

(Disclosure: I’m such a fan of the work that I acquired one of Shawn’s pieces earlier this year.)

The artist is a self-described history buff and mixes intriguing historical portraits with 21st-century touches. This exhibition is an extension of his Dirty Laundry series, tackling the topics of privacy and modern life. Figures are obscured by piles of modern clothes, and you see Shawn’s technical ability at creating hyperrealistic fabrics that almost jump off the canvas.

(Above: Sarah Sherburne Langdon, 1767, by John Singleton Copley, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 in., Dallas Museum of Art) Click to enlarge

The Hawkins piece references a portrait created by noted American artist John Singleton Copley. Copley was a self-taught artist who hustled to become an in-demand portraitist among the wealthy scions of New England. What’s interesting is that in his reinterpretation of the Copley portrait, Hawkins retained the various “quirks” of the original, such as the awkward scale difference between the arms. (It’s a reminder that good art has never been about perfection:)

Besides the historical connection, I love the way he forces viewers to think about how we present ourselves to others. Shawn comments on how curated elements of our appearance—clothing for example—deliberately hide our true selves to the public.

Where can I see his new work?

He has a new exhibition in Denver this summer with K Contemporary called “Pareidolia”, open until late August 2023. Pareidolia refers to the condition where our eyes perceive forms in random arrangements: examples includes the way we may see animals that look like public figures, or faces in food). Shawn invites the viewers to imagine what is under the fabric piles.

More information about the gallery and his new work can be found here.

(Above: Red and Orange Down Jackets: Louis Philippe d’Orleans (after Grouts), 2023, by Shawn Huckins, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 34 in.) Click to enlarge

How much are his pieces?

Shawn’s paintings range in price from $7k and up, based on size.

I’m doing this newsletter for fun. If you would like help navigating the art world in building your own collection (Shawn or other artists), that would be fun for me too! Send me a note if you think I can be helpful, or if you have any feedback on this free newsletter.

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