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RiverArtsFest 2008 Poster
Artist
 George
Hunt was born more than 60 years ago of humble
beginnings, and over a lifetime of living,
learning, watching, growing, creating and
translating his visions into paintings, he has
emerged as one of the most important
African-American artist in the South. George
Hunt has made a significant mark on not just
African-American art, but American art as a
whole.
Memphis artist George Hunt was born in rural
Louisiana, near Lake Charles, and his
grandmother noted early in life that he had a
special power to “see things.” In addition to
large doses of indigenous music, one of the
things he saw was the civil rights movement and
that experience became a painting in 1997, which
in turn, became a US Postage Stamp issued in
2005 as part of the United States Postal Service
series, “To Form A More Perfect Nation.”
George Hunt was honored for his painting,
“America Cares/Little Rock Nine” at ceremonies
in Little Rock and Memphis. The paint was
originally commissioned for the Central High
School Museum, but first spent five years
hanging in the White House in Washington, D.C.
First Lady, Hillary Clinton, in a personal note
to Mr. Hunt, wrote, “we are grateful that our
visitors and staff have such a powerful image of
hope and freedom to greet, inspire and inform
them.”
In 2002, the U.S. Congress brought attention to
America’s indigenous music by officially
declaring 2003 as the “Year of the Blues.”
George Hunt was named the Official Artist for
the “Year of the Blues,” and he created a new
body of work for a national tour. The exhibit,
‘Conjurating the Blues, The High Cotton Tour,”
consisted of 26 large paintings that depicted
the history of blues music in America. The title
painting proudly hung in the grand lobby of
Radio City Music Hall in New York during the
opening tribute show for the Year of the Blues
as Martin Scorcese filmed the documentary movie,
“Lightnin’ in a Bottle.” The exhibit continued
on to Seattle at Experience Music Project,
Chicago, Memphis, Helena, AR (King Biscuit
Festival) and Clarksdale, MS (Delta Blues
Museum.)
George Hunt appeared at great length in many
segments of the 13-part “Year of the Blues” PBS
radio series telling vivid stories of his
experience with blues music, rooted deep in the
rural south. Later in 2003, the Blues Foundation
bestowed a coveted “Keeping the Blues Alive”
award on George.
George Hunt spent his childhood in Texas and Hot
Springs, Arkansas. After high school, Hunt
attended college at the University of Arkansas,
Pine Bluff on a football scholarship and studied
art as a career. He did postgraduate studies at
the University of Memphis and at New York
University. Mr. Hunt spent three decades
teaching art education and coaching at George
Washington Carver High School in Memphis before
dedicating full time to painting. He now works
in a studio overlooking world-famous Beale
Street.
Ninety-nine percent of what George Hunt paints
come from the Southern African-American
experience, especially the folk tradition, civil
rights movement, the mythic heroism of Black
manhood, and of course blues music and culture.
His mother-in-law owned a jukejoint in Helena,
Arkansas called the Dreamland Cafe. There,
George Hunt listened to blues legends like Sonny
Boy Williamson and watched the patrons dance,
drink, eat catfish, court, sport and score. The
visions for George Hunt's art have been steeped
in the music and life passages of blues people.
ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
In 1996 George Hunt was commissioned to paint 24
portraits for Blues & Legends Hall of Fame
Museum in Robinsonville, Mississippi. He also
created the original painting for the large
mural on the exterior wall. Hunt was selected
because his deeply rooted history in blues
combined with his bold, dramatic, artistic style
to produce images that capture both the
uniqueness of the individual and the essence of
this colorful music. It was both an honor and a
dream come true for George when he the completed
the museum’s paintings in 1998.
Hunt was selected as the featured artist for the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum’s American Music
Master’s annual conference in 1998. The
conference, Hellhound on My Trail: Robert
Johnson and the Blues, utilized a George Hunt
painting for the poster; and included a one-man
show at the 9th Street Gallery in Cleveland. A
year later he was selected again to create a
painting of Muddy Waters for the Museum.
George Hunt’s name and images have become
synonymous with The Memphis In May Beale Street
Music Festival. For 15 years, he has been
selected to paint an original blues image for
the festival posters, which have become valuable
collectors items.
In 2005, Hunt was honored by being selected as
the artist for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival Congo Square poster. He was given a
special exhibit during the festival at Stella
Jones Gallery and was honored with an exhibit at
the Ogden Museum.
His work has become definitive images for
posters and promotion of many other blues
festivals around the country including Chicago
Blues Festival, Telluride Blues Festival, the
Ultimate Rhythm & Blues Cruise, and the Arkansas
Blues Festival. Hunt was selected to create a
painting for the 25th Anniversary of the Blues
Foundation’s prestigious Handy Awards.
The Memphis Chapter of The Garden Club of
America selected George Hunt in 2004 as the
featured artist for its highly competitive and
prestigious national floral arranging
competition held at Dixon Museum Gallery and
Gardens in Memphis. Teams from around the
country studied Hunt’s work for over a year,
then imported both familiar and exotic flower
from the western hemisphere and around the globe
in an attempt to match the vibrant colors and
unique forms in his paintings.
Mr. Hunt’s work has been exhibited in both
individual and group shows nationally, and it is
part of the permanent collections of museums as
well private collectors such as Steve Wynn,
Anthony Quinn, Eddie Murphy, Steven Seagal,
Justin Timberlake and David Simmons. He has been
featured and written about in many publications
including an Ebony Magazine feature in 2005.
Hunt is represented by
LongRiver Entertainment Group,
Memphis, Tennessee. |
