Hunt Slonem was born in Kittery, Maine in 1951. His fascination with exotica imprinted during his childhood in Hawaii and experience as a foreign exchange student in Managua, Nicaragua. Slonem received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University of Louisiana and studied painting at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Since 1977, Slonem has soloed in over one hundred fifty exhibitions. Over 75 museums internationally include his work in their collections, among them the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Slonem lives and works in New York City in his legendary loft, with his seventy pet birds as his models. Characterized by a luscious handling of oils, Hunt Slonem's recent paintings depict his exotic birds. The paintings are at once abstract and representational: the multiple grids recall the bars of the birdcages; and the birds themselves are simultaneously recognizable forms and moments of pure color. Slonem creates rich, luminous compositions that are not only a source of visual pleasure, but also reflects his long-standing preoccupation with the natural world as a site of spiritual transcendence.