2004Press

If a talented cartoonist, Picasso, a painter from the Renaissance and an African tribal painter met and melded their art forms, they would produce a Marlon Hunt. In a seamless cohesion of European and African, I couldn’t help thinking, as I gazed upon Mr. Hunt’s artwork on his website, that if a Renaissance painter had spent some time apprenticing with an African painter or vice versa, that this might have been what they would have produced. Mr. Hunt’s work seems to visually sum up the multi-cultural history of the Bahamas in particular the major influences of Africa and Europe.

Starting out as a construction manager at Sun International Development right out of university, Mr. Hunt’s path did not seem destined for the arts. However, unbeknownst to anyone but his family he was a secret painter and, as with the fates of so many individuals across the world, 9/11 created what was to be, for Mr. Hunt, a happy void in his career. Using this sudden free time to experiment with his artwork Mr. Hunt developed his Euro-African style based on a painting of his girlfriend (now wife Rachel Hunt) which he had done while in university. He hasn’t stopped painting since. “So far as an artist I’ve been blessed with success. I sell most of my pieces to local collectors, but I am trying to expose my work to the international market,” said Mr. Hunt. Using his website as a marketing tool, he was recently introduced to some South African contacts who thought his work would do very well in their market.

It’s easy to see why Mr. Hunt’s work has done so well. With its rich tones of Titian red and lapis lazuli blue, and its Picasso-reminiscent figures combined with the elongated Nubian limbs which figure in so many African or African influenced sculpture and paintings, Mr. Hunt’s work is positively cosmopolitan. A testament to the sophistication of our own art scene in the Bahamas, when asked which artists had influenced him the most, Mr. Hunt listed off all Bahamian names. “Though I’ve visited some of the art museums in Europe and seen the artwork of the masters, the artists who really intrigued and inspired me were Stan Burnside, whose work I love, Jolyon Smith, whose work I always admired before I started painting, and Joanne Behagg, an art lecturer at COB who does sculpture and pottery. Because of her encouragement and influence I pushed myself to continue.” These were the artists and mentors who inspired him to paint and draw. He also cited the work of Bahamian artist Eric Ellis as highly influential.

With its very feminine shapes, spirals and aural shapes emanating from the head, Mr. Hunt’s work is similar in spirit to Claudette Dean’s portrayal of the feminine figure. Both artists share a love of the curved line and vibrant colours. Where Ms. Dean uses more reds, pinks and blues, Mr. Hunt is inclined towards earthier tones – browns, reds, and yellows – the colours of the Bahamian people. “I love a burst of colour. I like paintings to be alive and rich, I want my paintings to have personality.” And Mr. Hunt accomplishes this through colour, exclaiming that a simple form may be given life through the use of colour. “Colour gives a painting a life all its own; you don’t even have to say much about the painting because it really speaks for itself.”

When asked why many of the faces in his paintings are painted in bright colours like blue and yellow in contrast to the body which is usually painted in skin tones, Mr. Hunt described his experience in one of Ms. Behagg’s classes on masking. “I made a ceramic mask in her class and I liked it so much. Since then I’ve been fascinated by people’s faces – their _expression and shape. In 90% of my paintings the eyes are closed. I want the figures to be very reflective.” With the recent rise in the West’s fascination with Eastern meditative techniques, it is no surprise that these contemplative poses would draw an interested clientele both nationally and internationally.

When it comes to artwork of this caliber it’s best to let your eyes do the savouring; words can only suggest at extraordinary art, they cannot capture it. Please come and see how Mr. Hunt says it without words in his upcoming exhibit, Visions and Meditations of Freedom, at the Central Bank of the Bahamas. Sponsored by Credit Suisse Trust, the exhibit will open on Friday, 2nd April and run for the first two weeks of April.