Shawn Huckins‘ acrylic paintings illustrate the past and present status of the American technological revolution in shorthand; intricately replicated 18th century portraits superimposed with an abbreviated text message. The result spawns a Pandora’s box of philosophical questions and meanings that have neither easy answers nor simple explanations. The paintings are humorous antidotes doused in a seriousness that speaks to the deterioration of human interaction and community.
Would Ulysses S. Grant update his Facebook status after gauging a Confederate soldier’s eye out with a bayonet? Picture Harriet Tubman with an Iphone texting Fredrick Douglas as they work in cahoots. How many likes would George Washington get, and what would Benjamin Franklin LMAO about, smoking that good stuff?
Huckins lives in Denver, Colorado.
2012
acrylic + pencil on canvas
29 x 23.75 in (74 x 60 cm)
2012
acrylic + pencil on canvas
52 x 40 in (132 x 102 cm)
acrylic + pencil on canvas
36 x 24 in (91 x 61 cm)
2010
acrylic on panel with found frame
26.75 x 22.75 in (68 x 58 cm)
2012
acrylic on canvas
36 x 28 in (91 x 71 cm)
